Post by Maxflex on Dec 3, 2012 18:18:01 GMT -8
House GOP offers plan to avoid fiscal cliff, but White House says no
House GOP proposal on fiscal cliff rejects Obama's tax plan
Negotiations on a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff got a jump-start on Monday with House Republicans offering a counter-proposal to President Barack Obama, but continuing to reject his call for higher tax rates on the wealthy.
The GOP proposal would result in $2.2 trillion in deficit savings over the next decade, including $800 billion from tax reform, $600 billion from Medicare reforms and other health savings, and $600 billion in other spending cuts, House GOP leadership aides told reporters.
House Speaker John Boehner called it a "credible plan that deserves serious consideration by the White House."
The move followed a weekend of accusations by both sides that the other was not serious about reaching a deal to avoid the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts scheduled to take effect January 1 - what is known as the fiscal cliff that economists say will damage U.S. growth.
There was no immediate response to the Republican plan, which congressional aides said would be sent in a letter to the White House.
Washington (CNN) -- House Republicans offered a counterproposal Monday in the heated battle to avert the so-called fiscal cliff, but it was quickly rebuffed by President Barack Obama's administration for not demanding more from the nation's wealthiest taxpayers.
...
Yet Republicans, led by Boehner, have objected to any increase in tax rates, even for the wealthiest Americans. They have said an agreement must include major reforms of entitlement programs such as the Medicare and Medicaid government-run health-care programs for senior citizens, the disabled and the poor.
Instead, the offer Monday proposed $800 billion in deficit savings through tax reform, including an unspecified amount of revenue raised by eliminating tax deductions and loopholes.
The GOP letter said the offer is based on a framework proposed last year by Erskine Bowles, a Democrat and one-time White House chief of staff who was co-chairman of a deficit reduction panel appointed by Obama in 2010.
"This is by no means an adequate long-term solution, as resolving our long-term fiscal crisis will require fundamental entitlement reform," the letter said. "Indeed, the Bowles plan is exactly the kind of imperfect, but fair middle ground that allows us to avert the fiscal cliff without hurting our economy and destroying jobs."
Yep, Democrats, it seems, are not willing to deal with the budget other then by raising taxes. ~sigh~
House GOP proposal on fiscal cliff rejects Obama's tax plan
Negotiations on a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff got a jump-start on Monday with House Republicans offering a counter-proposal to President Barack Obama, but continuing to reject his call for higher tax rates on the wealthy.
The GOP proposal would result in $2.2 trillion in deficit savings over the next decade, including $800 billion from tax reform, $600 billion from Medicare reforms and other health savings, and $600 billion in other spending cuts, House GOP leadership aides told reporters.
House Speaker John Boehner called it a "credible plan that deserves serious consideration by the White House."
The move followed a weekend of accusations by both sides that the other was not serious about reaching a deal to avoid the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts scheduled to take effect January 1 - what is known as the fiscal cliff that economists say will damage U.S. growth.
There was no immediate response to the Republican plan, which congressional aides said would be sent in a letter to the White House.
Washington (CNN) -- House Republicans offered a counterproposal Monday in the heated battle to avert the so-called fiscal cliff, but it was quickly rebuffed by President Barack Obama's administration for not demanding more from the nation's wealthiest taxpayers.
...
Yet Republicans, led by Boehner, have objected to any increase in tax rates, even for the wealthiest Americans. They have said an agreement must include major reforms of entitlement programs such as the Medicare and Medicaid government-run health-care programs for senior citizens, the disabled and the poor.
Instead, the offer Monday proposed $800 billion in deficit savings through tax reform, including an unspecified amount of revenue raised by eliminating tax deductions and loopholes.
The GOP letter said the offer is based on a framework proposed last year by Erskine Bowles, a Democrat and one-time White House chief of staff who was co-chairman of a deficit reduction panel appointed by Obama in 2010.
"This is by no means an adequate long-term solution, as resolving our long-term fiscal crisis will require fundamental entitlement reform," the letter said. "Indeed, the Bowles plan is exactly the kind of imperfect, but fair middle ground that allows us to avert the fiscal cliff without hurting our economy and destroying jobs."
Yep, Democrats, it seems, are not willing to deal with the budget other then by raising taxes. ~sigh~
