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Subscribe to RSSAfter a weekend that generated skepticism about a possible deal to avert the 'fiscal cliff,' House Republicans presented a plan that includes $800 billion in new taxes, which is half of what the White House asked for. NBC's Chuck Todd reports.
Updated 4:50 p.m. ET -- Republicans offered up their own proposal to avert the impending “fiscal cliff” on Monday amid Democratic demands that the GOP match the Obama administration’s plan with one of their own.
In a letter to President Barack Obama, House Republican leaders outlined the contours of a deal they said would achieve a net savings of $2.2 trillion. The plan, which is based on fiscal commission Democratic co-chairman Erskine Bowles’s proposal to the super committee, would achieve these savings through revenue from tax reforms, health savings and discretionary spending cuts.
Recommended: Income tax rates just one piece of Obama proposal
"Going over the cliff will hurt our economy and hurt job creation in our country. It’s one of the reasons the day after the election I offered a concession to try and speed this process up. Unfortunately, the White House responded with their ‘La-La-Land’ offer that couldn't pass the House or Senate and was basically the president’s budget from last February," House Speaker John Boehner told reporters on Capitol Hill at a briefing detailing the plan.
Alex Wong / Getty Images
Speaker John Boehner speaks during a news conference, Nov. 30, 2012, on Capitol Hill.
"We could have responded in kind, but we decided not to do that. What we’re putting forth is a credible plan that deserves serious consideration by the White House and I would hope that they would respond in a timely and responsible way," the Ohio Republican added.
Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director, said the plan "does not meet the test of balance."
"Their plan includes nothing new and provides no details on which deductions they would eliminate, which loopholes they will close or which Medicare savings they would achieve," he said. "While the president is willing to compromise to get a significant, balanced deal and believes that compromise is readily available to Congress, he is not willing to compromise on the principles of fairness and balance that include asking the wealthiest to pay higher rates ... Until the Republicans in Congress are willing to get serious about asking the wealthiest to pay slightly higher tax rates, we won't be able to achieve a significant, balanced approach to reduce our deficit our nation needs."
The counter-offer coincides with Democratic demands that Republicans produce their own proposal to match the deal offered last week by the administration. That plan, presented to Republicans by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, called for $1.6 trillion in new revenues, savings from entitlement programs and new spending on unemployment insurance and investment projects. GOP leaders rejected the plan out-of-hand.
Still, the GOP proposal on Monday appears to move no further toward compromise on Obama’s central demand that tax rates be allowed to increase on the wealthiest Americans. While Republicans have agreed in principle that richer Americans can shoulder a greater share of the tax burden, they insist this must be achieved through ending loopholes and deductions, rather than raising rates.
The Republican plan, which is also backed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., achieves its $2.2 trillion in several steps.
rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., talks about the key points in President Barack Obama's fiscal cliff negotiation that are making Republicans wary.
As Republicans put it, they would raise $800 billion in new revenue through tax reform, $600 billion in health savings, $200 billion from changes to the Consumer Price Index, $300 billion in discretionary spending cuts, and another $300 billion in savings in mandatory spending. Many of the health savings track closely with the changes to Medicare first proposed in Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan’s budgets.
Republicans say the plan, using the Obama administration’s math, would achieve $4.6 trillion in savings.
It’s unclear, though, whether the Republican plan would move toward ending the stalemate around the fiscal cliff negotiations, with less than a month remaining until the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts are scheduled to snap into place on Jan. 1.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., pummeled his GOP colleagues earlier Monday afternoon, arguing that their failure to produce a counter-offer would only exacerbate the situation.
The new GOP plan reflects the posturing that has come to characterize these negotiations, separated just a month from an election which awarded Obama a second term and which kept Republicans in control of the House and Democrats in control of the Senate.
Also on Monday, the president continued his messaging offensive on Monday with a glossy campaign-style video highlighting the cost to families if the 2001 Bush-era tax cuts were allowed to expire at the end of this month. (Obama has argued they should be extended for all but the wealthiest 2 percent of U.S. households.)
Benjamin Myers / Reuters
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner arrives at Capitol Building before a meeting with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in Washington, D.C., Nov. 29, 2012.
The president also took to Twitter to make the case for his own plan, answering questioners who used the informal 140-character medium to ask about the fiscal cliff negotiations.
Asked by one participant why he insists on increasing rates on the top 2 percent of earners rather than limiting deductions in order to raise revenues, the president replied that capping deductions alone would not raise adequate revenue.
"Not enough revenue, unless you end charitable deductions, etc. [L]ess revenue=more cuts in education," he wrote.
The president also dismissed the GOP notion that lower taxes for the very wealthy have a trickle-down effect in terms of new hires and a larger tax pool. "High end tax cuts do least for economic growth & cost almost $1T," he wrote. "Extending middle class cuts boosts consumer demand & growth"
Obama also argued that his administration cut spending by $1 trillion last year and that he is open to further "smart cuts" as long as they don't affect education or job growth.
NBC's Frank Thorp contributed to this report.
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Boehner is an arrogant BONEHEAD. I understand negotiating but he takes arrogance to a whole new level. Both sides need to negotiate in earnest quickly. If not we will all pay the price in terms of a stock market that will crash and hiring that will totally dry up, not to mentioned paychecks that will be smaller for 98% of Americans.
Reid is the real knot head; income won't solve the problem. WE HAVE A SPENDING PROBLEM....can you hear me now?
This "plan" doesn't have a chance of being approved. What a joke. No tax increase for the 1%! All the benefit cuts hit the middle class. It assures that we will all get a tax increase.
What benefit cut hit the middle class?
cut foreign aid first to those countries who hate our guts then we can stop those immigrants who are sending all of this money back home to their real families. make all of the government go on obama care and do away with some of the perks they have this is just a start forget the taxes just quit spending and borrowing what you dont have if i want a mortgage and dont have enough to put down then i dont get the mortgage this should hold true for the elected government too
thats 129 billion, where do you want to get the rest?
Why follow we should lead. Everyone to the cliff now and leap. That will take the decisions out of their hands.
The Obama/Democrat proposals are typical B.S. from them. The "tax the rich" plan will only cause enough revenue to run THEIR government a few days. Then what??
The best approach would be one in which everyone pays their fair share (as the Demo's always says). If we need $3 Trillion more revenue, then we need around $10,000 for every man woman and child in the country. So, we should require every man woman and child to pay an additional $10,000.
What, you say? Where would they get the money. Easy, if they don't make enough, they get a second job. The "rich" that Obama and his Chicago thugs like to pick on all work 50, 60, 70 or more hours a week. That's how they got rich. Let the rest of the people do the same.
So, $10,000 extra in taxes for all, and the problem goes away. Everyone will be their FAIR SHARE.
How about the Government stops spending $10,000 for every man, woman, and child. That is the fair share. Not taking more from me for bullsh!t I don't use or care about.
lets face it people this guy john bonehead will never be anything more than he was all of his unhappy life, JUST A MOP & BUCKET JANITOR, speaker of the house, LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL , hand me that PLUNGER one of you GOP buddies, WE HAVE A BLOCKAGE HERE!!!!!!!. lets keep the same old $HIT GOING AS LONG AS WE CAN, and we will blame it on PRESIDENT OBAMA, buisness as usual with the GOP, they have never done anything wrong, and the worst part is they have never done anything that was right for the people of this UNITED STATES of AMERICA, only the high rollers and WALL STREET!!!!!. what sorry times these are :-( :-(
Maybe term limits for Congress would help to make things less political. If you agree, join the petition at:
Make a positive contribution instead of the name calling and jabber. I see plenty of that here with a lot of finger pointing, but what are YOU doing for a solution?
you tax the 2%.....the middle class LOSE their jobs!!!! what is so hard to understand about this!?!?! by NOT increasing taxes on the rich......you are saving jobs!!! ask yourself this......when is the last time you got a paycheck from a poor person??? THE RICH CREATE JOBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ahahahaha, reminds of dealing with the school teachers union. Meet my demands or we take it out on the education of your children!! No we wont reform ourselves, just approve or we take it out on your kids........ I expect nothing more from these idealists.
Here we go again more political bull. A compromised of the same package deal Paul Ryan was running on. American Citizens have spoken very loud and clear about the Republicans proposal and ideas during their campaign blitz. They said it with sounding; “NO” in the form of their vote . Both in the popular and electoral votes.
This is just a sneaky way for the Republicans and Tea Party to push through their agenda on the Democrats.
Yes, we all must come together with a sound package and we all will have to compromised giving on both sides some what. But if you look at the Republicans/Tea Party package. It is darn near the same package he ran on. It was a bad idea then and still is a bad idea now.
Republicans/Tea Party need to stop fighting with the President, puffing up their mouths and getting angry. Instead they need to roll up their sleeves, stop running to the Media every five minutes just to get themselves on TV, and start brainstorming on serious compromises with the Democrats on what is best for this country and our citizens.
I have never seen a bunch of unorganized people who have the responsibility to come up with serious decisions, than to be running around getting in the lens of a camera, crying about what they should be brainstorming about in the first place.
This is America gentlemen and ladies of the house. The people send you their because we feel you can get the job done. With election time glooming on your shoulders, this could cause some serious cuts of members in the old house, on election day. May our Gods bless our country.
Wait, I thought you were talking about the democrats during the rush to vote before we read it Obamacare legislation!!
If you have not read the letter documenting the proposal presented by Republicans, please refrain from commenting further. It only makes you look ignorant. No, it isn't perfect but neither was the proposal presented by the President. Maybe with some give and take, they can eventually work it out. No one is going to get all they want, that is just the way life goes.
Just get over yourselves and take a look. Some of the comments are disgusting.
seems to me that the democrats won the election and it is the repuglicants who need to start compromising to them. the american people spoke but once again the right isnt listening. the republicans will continue to lose elections if they dont make changes to their basic tenets and stop being held hostage by the tea party and the likes of norquist. there was a time that the republicans were moderates and got alot of things done correctly for the good of this country. their posturing now is not helping anyone but their billion dollar friends. Find your guts again republicans and demand an end to this partisanship led by the far right. it isnt helping america and thats what all of our government is there for.
Michael
The Republicans DID offer a compromise on Nov. 7,2012. They said OK to the 800 Billon Tax Increase that Obama campaigned on. Then Obama moved the goal posts,as it were, to 1.6 Trillion in Tax Increase. HOW IS THAT COMPROMISING??
This sh!t cracks me up. "Fiscal cliff", as if raising or not raising taxes is going to make a difference. The Federal Government spends more then it takes in, PERIOD. It doesn't matter what these dip sh!ts in Congress do, the collapse is coming because they don't have the fortitude to stop spending beyond their means. Washington has created all the problems with our economy, why do the sheeple continue to think those same morons can fix what they already f^&ked up. WAKE UP AMERICA. The end is coming. And another thing that chaps my azz. Why do sheeple think the top 2% should pay more in taxes. Why is it their fault that the Government pizzes money away like a crack addict? Tell the Government to stop raping the working people of their wages and get a grip of reality. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Time for a revolution.
No one trusts you anymore Boehner. You and the republican leadership think that we, the rank and file, are just going to keep supporting you. You all will fight tooth and nail for crap that don't matter at the end of the day. We need jobs and economic growth. No one but the self appointed leadership wanted Romney, 5 other candidates polled higher than him, but you forced that loser on us. How'd that work out? Forget about the 2%. Fight to roll back some of the regs that are killing business and driving up food and energy prices. If you do that, then growth will take care of the budget.
I just reached the end of the numbers and found the preamble to the analysis. This is garbage and disingenuous. Not a single thing the democrats asked for/negotiated on is in here. Not a single revenue increase via cutting tax breaks for the upper 2 tiers, no capital gains reform, and no addressing of corporate welfare. This is absolute partisan tripe! I have officially lost all respect for Boehner.
Here is what I and a few other intelligent people worked out and mostly agreed upon:
1)Limit congressional terms to 2 or 3 maximum per person.
2)Allow voters across the united states the ability to vote on whether or not
individual congressmen receive their pensions and health benefits based on
whether or not the people sees them as productive. On a side note, limit those
benefits and pensions to 5 years after their congressional careers end.
3)Scrap the entire current tax code and start over with the basics of a tiered
(graduated) rate system with few deductions except for disability,
children/dependents, or being a college student. Alternatively, scrap the
income tax altogether and create a universal federal sales tax split into 2
categories: necessities and luxuries. According to projections by forbes in 09,
a universal sales tax on all products of 16% would have made up more than 50%
of Bush's deficit for the previous year. I propose a less stringent 12-13% on
necessities such as food and toilet paper, and a 20-21% rate on luxuries like
private jets. We have the tech such that almost all work even executives do can
be done via video conference. Private jets do not a business expense make,
unless you are a distribution company and those jets are your method to
transport goods.
4)Slice 10% of military spending, as CBO and others have concluded at least that much
of the budget is lost in middlemen and frivolous expenses.
5)Limit welfare to 60 days after unemployment, limit food stamps to food, increase the
penalties on using them for other items, and create a private industry system
which employs the unemployed after 60 days for an annual salary of $20,000. If
people want better, they can go looking for it/get educated for it. Given the
current rate of unemployment, this plan will only cost 240 billion each year, and
the increased GDP due to (in my head a manufacturing operation) production will
partially cover the loss, which is already less than our current welfare
system.
6)Scrap 95% of "No Child Left Behind." Teachers and school admin should be
held accountable, but it's time to stop catering to the lazy and willfully
stupid. If you have a mental disorder such as ADD, you do the
work/therapy/medicine to keep it under control. If you have anger management
issues, get them fixed. Parents, your role in this is crucial. Bottom line: we
must start demanding excellence from our students again. I propose we go the
way of China and Europe in this. Actual college professors, not the goons hired
by the college board, should be given charge to write tests which gauge students'
mastery of basic content at a certain age (various countries differ on exactly
when) to separate the stronger learners from the weaker ones and put them on
two separate tracks.
6-B)Partially to make warmongering politicians more responsible, reinstate the
draft so they are forced to swallow the fact they are now toying with
non-volunteers' lives. Now, those students who fall into the lower track and
remain there to the end of their schooling, will be the ones forced to serve in
the military for, let's say, 2 years minimum, 4 maximum. At any point these
students may do independent study and voluntarily test back up into the higher
track if they so choose. But the incentive to do well would now be in place.
7)Reform capital gains taxation by penalizing practices which have made people rich by
betting on companies to fail (aka Bain Capital and most of wall street today)
such as mass short sales and leverage buyouts, as these practices in the end
destroy business and layoff thousands of people just because big sharks don't
like to play nice. Reward practices which stimulate the economy such as
maintaining investments. Most of the normal trades business can remain as is.
8)The healthcare debacle: I point you to Germany, a country ranking above our own
in healthcare internationally. That means they beat us on availability while
maintaining our quality. This means: single-payer, public-option, socialized
healthcare. I know socialism generally is a bad idea economically, but this
happens to be the one place it belongs. You pay as you go, buy what you need,
everyone pays in, and premiums go down (because you already pay the insurance
companies to cover care for those without insurance, so socialized healthcare
does not make you pay for other people's healthcare). Drug companies are forced
to bid for government contract and be competitive, not just lucrative. This
will incentivize cures, not just treatments like we see today with big pharma.
I'd bet you the cost of my college education the cure for HIV currently sits
somewhere locked up within the CDC, Phizer, J&J, Bristol Meyers Squib, et
al.
These ideas submitted by a left-leaning independent with 8 years of college education
(3 at Miami University in Oxford Ohio, 5 at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in
troy New York).
Please offer constructive feedback and collaboration, not partisan pissing match rhetoric. Let's get
a plan together and force those hacks in Washington to really compromise.
can I vote for you PLEASE!!!!!
Oh oh, can I agree and be intelligent like you? Now here is my definition of pseudointellectual: someone who is highly educated but still believes in fairy tales, santa, the easter bunny, affirmative action, peace on earth, unfunded mandates, stuff people like them talk about....
The reality is clear, we spend more than we take in. Cut spending. Did you follow that genius? The third open heart surgery for an 80 year old would pay for 10 kids to go to college....
I am curious, did you graduate? I have an advanced science degree from Colorado School of Mines, but logic doesn't apply here so quit trying
I like it. I started a congressional term limit petition. please join in.
the h t t p s: // needs adding to the front of the address since this site doesn't seem to allow a link.
petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/set-term-limits-congress/VTH6Fxhy
Tapout, I did put spending cuts in there, genius. It slices medicare in half (bye bye 2/3 of our deficit) while maintaining quality and increasing availability, getting rid of 200 billion in military spending (getting close) and reforming the tax code to increase revenue to cover the rest. Did you miss that?
Eddie, while I do appreciate your sentiment, I'd rather write technical papers for my quantum computing doctorate in Icelandic than write English Legalese for Congress.
yes we need socialized healthcare. i wish we could get enough of us to make it happen. I make under 100k a year by a lot and I would gladly pay 10% more in taxes to make it happen. John Boehner is an ass!
What we spend on medicare/medicaid/VA over 10 years would build, equip and staff enough hospitals and clinics to service everone enrolled in those programs. Once built, staffed and equiped, the cost to maintain would be a fraction of what we are spending now. Give control to the county heath dept's after that. Private heath care costs would fall with it.
Mike, the ACA is halfway socilized, which is a horrible idea. If you want a real socialized healthcare system with top notch quality, I bid thee look to Germany (also a world GDP growth leader right now).
Thank you rick for that rather intelligent comment.
Patrick, what's wrong? Your not getting your bullying way! Let's go over the cliff together big boy! It will be good for you.
Patrick
Did you look at the taxes the Germans pay? Here is an example.
19% Value Added Tax.
14% income tax on those making 10,452-69,025
So the Poor and Middle Class in Germany is paying 23% in taxes. Are you ok with that?
I want every american to pay more taxes!!! Screw-you-all; especially the ones that don't have any "skin-in-the-game!!" Next time they'll be more responsible in voting!
I will, if you will.
Gonna anyways!?! Do you think we won't pay more for goods & services if small businesses are hit for a larger tax bill?? Damn Skippy we will!
deport the over ten million illegals sucking the U.S.taxpayer funded teat for decades and this country will save trillions along with huge crime and pollution reduction. implement eisenhowers operation wetback.problem solved.never happen though.the liberal agenda wants to make them all citizens so they can vote the politicians who give them goodies back into their cush jobs.
trickle down theory... never does work,... just like a pyramid scheme... only the top get (or remain) rich... the pizza drivers still make minimum wage, and don't even get a hand up on their car insurance, yet those cars make PapaJohn rich enough to own an entire city and live in a castle........
Watching this so called debate is so unforgiving. These politicians make their points known, but the amount of money that will be saved or cut is not worth mentioning. This government BORROWS $5B each day. They have over spent the budget by over $1 Trillion per year. They argue about amounts to tax the rich to make us feel like the rich are dividing us. These Representatives are filling their websites with talking points that are suppose to make us feel like we are gaining on our debt problem. We are NOT. My grand children are going to see taxes on everything that can be taxed. Total amounts of tax paid to State and Federal will go from 50 to 75% of their incomes. If we raise the debt limit-these representatives will spend it. The Republicans will cave in and come up with a savings of $200B per year which will be eaten up by borrowed money.
Bottom line is that our debt will go from the $16T to over $24T in the next four years with all their smoke and switch plans.
I have heard of the CSPAN suggestion to have the debates open to the public for our review. This would surely show the Presidents foolish spending plans and ideas to be broadcasted to the nation for all of us to see. This would force a open and positive debate to get a plan established.
Obama hasn't submitted a budget since he was elected. Where do we start?
John Boehner is an ass!
I agree, and Obama is looking at him like looking in a mirror.
I guess the site won't let me post a link so i will try again: i removed the h t t p s // from the front to see if they will allow that.
petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/set-term-limits-congress/VTH6Fxhy
There's no such thing as the "fiscal cliff"! Our Corporate Government made it up in order to justify tax increases and insult the intelligence of the legal citizens of the United States.
If the trickle down thought process worked then how come with Companies posting record profits aren't hiring more, and reinvesting that money into the economy? They continue to take the gains and screw the rest of us. Let's close all the off shore bank account loopholes that allow the wealthy to funnel money out then back into the US in order to not have to pay tax. As far as the Republican party is concerned...Hey you idiot's.....WAKE UP....We know who you are and why your doing what your doing....we the American public are not sheep, nor are we stupid.....But then again if you do keep it up, come 2014 you'll be fired. Don't ever forget in your power vacuum, who you work for.
Steve, their is one correction with your statement. You are a sheep and if you think any of the clowns in Washington can fix what they f&*ked up, you are a delusional sheep.
Vague or not. It is no less vague then the Democrats proposal. It also includes spending cuts. Something that isn't in the Democrats vocabulary. Wow, could the Repubs actually get approval on a surplus budget. No, that is just wishful thinking! The Dems wouldn't stand for healing the deficit, especially if they can't take credit for it. Besides, Pelosi might not get her $50 billion train built that will triple her property holdings in SF.