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Subscribe to RSSKey staffers huddle behind closed doors against the backdrop of a snowy capital as they attempt to hammer a last-minute deal to avoid going over the so-called fiscal cliff. NBC's Kristen Welker reports.
Updated 6:30 p.m. ET -- President Barack Obama tasked the United States Senate with trying to resolve the “fiscal cliff” in the waning hours before the New Year following a meeting between congressional leaders and the president.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will lead the last-minute effort to avert the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts set to take effect on Jan. 1 unless Congress acts.
And Obama said he is “optimistic” they can reach an accord before midnight on New Year’s Eve, the point at which the government would hit the fiscal cliff.
Absent that, the president said he had asked Reid to instead advance a bare-boned proposal that would extend the 2001 Bush tax cuts for income under $250,000.
Related -- Cliff Notes: Five things to watch at today's White House meeting
“I still want to get this done,” Obama said after his discussions with congressional leaders. He said “the hour for immediate action is here. It is now."
The president will appear exclusively on Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," where he's expected to further outline steps toward reaching a final deal.
The White House talks -- at which Obama presented no new offer to Republicans in Congress -- yielded “no concrete proposal,” Reid told reporters at the Capitol following the meeting.
President Barack Obama meets with NBC's David Gregory on Meet the Press Sunday morning. Gregory explains that for the president, this has become a matter of principle.
But in the waning hours before the end-of-year deadline, senators are now scrambling to produce a bipartisan package, at the request of Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, that can muster enough support in the House.
Reid, McConnell, Boehner, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., spent the meeting “discussing potential options and components for a plan that could pass both chambers of Congress,” according to a Boehner aide.
But the most significant development appeared to be the emerging consensus that any final agreement would have to emerge from the Senate. That deal would necessarily require a “bipartisan approach,” according to the office of McConnell, the Republican leader in the upper chamber.
Among the major sticking points, senior Democratic aides told NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell, involve the income threshold at which tax rates would be allowed to rise and the level at which estates are taxed.
Boehner’s failed effort last week to push through a fallback plan with only Republican votes laid bare the internal GOP divisions after conservatives balked at supporting a plan from the speaker to allow tax rates to rise on income over $1 million.
The unsuccessful effort suggested that Boehner would need to lean upon Pelosi for Democratic votes if a deal -- which has eluded Obama and Congress for the better part of the last two years -- is to pass.
A Senate-led agreement, though, faces no surefire guarantee of passage in the House.
“The speaker told the president that if the Senate amends the House-passed legislation and sends back a plan, the House will consider it -- either by accepting or amending,” Boehner’s aide emailed reporters.
One of the biggest sticking points in the fiscal cliff negotiations has been which income level ought to be required to pay additional taxes. On Friday, Democratic and Republican leaders met for an hour at the White House. NBC's Peter Alexander reports.
The protracted stalemate between Obama-led Democrats and congressional Republicans had prompted Friday's last-ditch meeting at the White House. It lasted just over an hour, and included Vice President Joe Biden and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.
Sources familiar with the meeting said that Obama made no new offer to Republicans, urging them to hold an up-or-down vote on a Democratic proposal to preserve existing tax rates for income under $250,000 and extend unemployment benefits (among other unresolved issues).
It’s that very proposal which Obama said he would ask Reid to advance should he and McConnell fail to strike a deal.
“I believe such a proposal could pass both houses with bipartisan majorities, as long as those leaders actually allow it to come to a vote,” he said.
Republicans had previously rejected such a proposal, but could feel pressure to relent to administration pressure in order to forestall across-the-board tax hikes in just a few days. The source familiar with the meeting told NBC's Peter Alexander and Kristen Welker that Obama asked Republicans what they would be willing to support, if not that proposal.
Amid negotiations toward a final deal, the House was set to return to Washington on Sunday at Boehner’s request, and remain at work through Jan. 2 -- the final day before the 112th Congress concludes and the next batch of lawmakers are sworn into office.
In the meanwhile, Obama voiced frustration toward the repeated pattern in Congress these past few years of lurching from crisis to crisis before reaching a last-minute deal to stave off catastrophe.
“The American people are watching what we do here. Obviously, their patience is already thin. This is deja vu all over again,” Obama said. “America wonders why, for some reason, in this town you can’t get stuff done in an organized timetable ... The American people are not going to have any patience for a politically self-inflicted wound to our economy.”
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I think that ND will win 36 to 17 for Alabama. The Country will lose on January 1 as no one will move in congress to fix anything. Gun control or not, growth of the economy, energy, nothing will get fixed, In two months the Debt ceiling will be another Republican yawn and on and on!
Think that more people should carry guns to protect themselves..Colorado may have been different if a person had a gun on them as the guy was killing people! Don't need 100 shot clips, and people should not be able to buy at the gun shows without checks. this was shown on TV where a person just bought guns and no ID check!
cant tax the unemployed thou the unemployed sit home smoking pot and food stamp munchies
Unemployment is taxed by the feds and most states.
Momma should know! Even if she deflects on her lies being challenged
Yes as an employer that actually hires, you know as in people that work for a living?, my family does know the laws regarding taxes, state laws, etc.
We have to, just like any responsible employer.
But you will never know that side of the law will you? Bet you can't even google to get your own facts can you?
Let the fiscal cliff come, those of us that were responsible as adults have planned for our futures and will be ok. Many of us have our children and grandchildren's future in irrevocable trusts for minors, as in MC Hammer, can't touch this!!!!
Gone will be all the freebies, the massive tax refunds for those low income families who haven't earned it, such as the Head of Household and Earned Income Credits, and everyone's taxes will go up.
Let all the Bush/Obama tax cuts expire, it's the only way to start cleaning up the mess.
We cannot have revenue increases without spending cuts, it won't fix anything. It should be a 2 for 1, $2 cut in spending for every $1 in revenue increases.
1/1 does not help cut the debt and will only keep increasing it due to the interest alone.
"Gone will be all the freebies, the massive tax refunds for those low income families who haven't earned it, such as the Head of Household and Earned Income Credits, and everyone's taxes will go up."
Do you have any proof that all the freebies, the massive tax refunds for those low income families who haven't earned it, such as the Head of Household and Earned Income Credits will be gone?
You feel better while nothing will happen in Washington. Agree though let the Cliff happen!
Yep bring it on.
Momma Dukes makes up her own reality!
wish I could vacation in Hawaii oops 2 cents to make a penny
17 trillion whats the interest on that
Who cares as no one will do anything
Approximately $360 billion in 2012.
If the President does nothing, taxes go up on everyone. He gets a huge bump in revenue, $550 billion in cuts to the defense budget and his friends in the media will help him blame the Republicans who control only one-third (The House) of the government. Meanwhile, the average adult American is busy on their smart phone, checking their Facebook account to see what Tom and Mary are up to, with no idea whatsoever what is really going on. If anyone thinks the budget can balanced and over $16 trillion in accumulated debt reduced without significantly cutting spending, they surely voted to legalize pot.
Hmmm...problem is that most economists agree that faced with a higher tax bill, middle class consumers, who are just now slowly returning to spending, will stop spending and throw the country back into another recession.
This uncertainty has probably already destroyed holiday retail sales.
You need a Financial advisor..It's going lower and you just lost 50k
Mr. Obstructionist Harry Reid owns a big piece of the current dilemma, the House has provided several budgets which the Senate has failed to act on. Finally someone is talking to the Correct Person who owns CliffGate and requesting him to move something forward, Harry, I sincerely hope you have been Out Thunk !!!!
Dear Nevada, Please consider electing someone other than Harry this next go, the Nation grows weary of his vision. While I'm at it, California, Boxer and Pelosi are two really annoying Politicians that I can't believe you actually voted in. Send the Girls home and give them a chance to be a Grandma, we really can't afford to have them meddle in the future of this country. What the Hell are You Thinking ?????
tex2c
factcheck.org/2012/06/​obamas-spending-inferno-or-not
Nice try. 18% increase in spenging for Obama in 2009.
" 18% increase in spenging (sic) for Obama in 2009."
And he got the country out of one of the worst recessions.
I have not spenged in years! Seem to recall it caused a bad rash on my foot.
Blamo the Clown.
The federal government needs to seriously consider leagallizing marijuana. Tax the crap out of it and use the tax money to help the deficit and let the states use it to fund their resources to fight the war on the "real" drugs.
Alcohol is a much more devastating drug than marijuana the governmant just doesn't know how to regulate it, and until the blind politicians in Washington open their eyes and see that, we will continue to see these "fiscal cliff" issues come and go while the average american just wants to work, put food on the table and pay their bills.
Marijuana has been around for centuries, it's here to stay, it's time to accept it, regulate it, tax it, and be done with it.
The Republicans sure have been quiet on Bashra. God they are desperate!
golf
I was pointing out tex2c's misinformation. He said Obama has increased spending only 1.4% BTW We are still in the recession. Only a few select Obama cronies benefited from the so called stimulus. The rest of us were kicked to the curb.
I thought Bozo the Clown died....now he is resurrected as Blamo the Clown!
Blamo - " BTW We are still in the recession."
Please look up the definition of a recession. When was the last time the GDP decreased in a quarter?
The economists definition of a recession is two or more consecutive calendar quarters of zero or negative GDP growth. We're in a weak recovery. We got out of the recession in June 2009.
As they say in social tennis where one is supposed to call the opponents shots in or out, "call them as you need them".
So Blamo, you are caught in a lie and post nonsense about tennis????
BTW, federal spending since 2009 has gone up less than 8%; Bush increased it by more than 60% in his 8 years.
What did I say about the GOPers like Blamo? They lie, deflect, and change the subject.
The dumb ass @!$%#o got us into this problem, I sure hope the Reps don't let that @!$%#o and his croonies spend any more, I would rather see US default, and watch all the @!$%#o's riot and go nuts cause they can't get their free stuff than to fund china..
By "dumb ass" you clearly mean GW! TWO unfunded (and off budget) wars, TWO unfunded tax cuts AT A TIME OF WAR, and unfunded Medicare Part D! Your KIDS will be paying off those loans!
End the Senate perks that cost our taxpayers over $800 MILLION a year (on top of their $174K a year salaries!). Included in these perks are over $33,000 a year for Senatorial hair care services!?
This fiscal cliff is about poor money management by our government. End wasteful spending, and fix these issues before they become a crisis.
The federal government certainly does a lot of wasteful spending, but that is only a small part of the financial problems we face. Entitlement programs, mainly Medicare and Medicaid, are not sustainable in their current form and both need major restructuring. The federal government has "promised" more than it can deliver. It is going to be a painful exercise to make the necessary cutbacks, it is something our government has never had to do in our history. It is going to be a rough ride for many, especially for those in the middle class.
Thanks, Peter. Perhaps my wish to end this type of wasteful spending is merely treating a symptom of the problem. It's still unbelievable to me the types of spending that we allow our government to do in this poor economy. We pay for our Senator's gym memberships and gift shop funds. I think someone who makes 174 k a year should pay for their own hair care and personalized mugs.
WHAT A RADICAL IDEA PRESIDENT OBAMA. RAISE TAXES ON THE WEALTHIEST AMERICANS?
"The past year has seen increasing sovereign debt concerns in the
face of a lagging economic recovery and has led some economies to
increase their highest rate of personal income tax,” said Ben
Garfunkel, national partner in charge of the International Executive
Services practice at KPMG LLP, in a statement. “Globally, many
economies are using two approaches when increasing personal income
tax: either creating new income tax rate bands for very high income
earners, or introducing temporary taxes to address immediate
budgetary deficit concerns.
Top personal income tax rates increased by 0.3 percent worldwide
this year, according to a new report by KPMG International. The U.S.
did not see an increase in rates due to the extension of the Bush tax
cuts, the report noted, but with the current tax rates set to expire
at the end of the year, the U.S. could potentially see the top U.S.
federal tax rate increase from 35 to 39.6 percent in 2013, if the
expiration remains on schedule.
Although the current top tax rate in the U.S. is a whopping 35
percent, take comfort in knowing there are several countries with
higher rates. “In fact, the U.S. is ranked 23rd in terms of the top
marginal tax rate among 96 countries surveyed by KPMG in 2011,”
CNBC reports.
...NOW GO LOOK UP THE TOP TAX RATES AROUND THE WORLD, MANY IN EUROPE. HOW ABOUT 58.95% IN ARUBA?
And remember folks, President Obama won the election, one of his platforms being the promise to try to raise taxes on the amount anyone makes OVER $250,000 per year. Romney lost on his ideas. Something the republicans who are still trying to subject us to the Romney / republican agenda seem not to understand. The President is in the postition to make them understand which is what a majority of Americans expect and want. Then they can come back after Jan. 1st and vote to re-instate the tax cuts for 98% of Americans and 97% of small buisnesses and work out the spending cuts and rest of the deal, which is what they want. Save face, keep their heads up Grovers butt and No tax increases voted for, just tax cuts.
Sorry, the amount of tax revenue by raising taxes on the top 2% of incomes does little to solve the financial problems of the federal government. It is merely a way to distract the public from what is our major problem, the government has made "promises" in Medicare and Medicaid that cannot be met. Other government programs need to be significantly scaled back. And taxes will need to go up on EVERYONE.
In a recent interview Erskin Bowles, the Democrat Obama chose to co-lead the deficit reduction commission, commented that for many decades voters have counted on their representatives in Congress to “bring home the bacon.” He then added that “the pig is dead”.
golfsleft
"Gone will be all the freebies, the massive tax refunds for those low income families who haven't earned it, such as the Head of Household and Earned Income Credits, and everyone's taxes will go up."
Do you have any proof that all the freebies, the massive tax refunds for those low income families who haven't earned it, such as the Head of Household and Earned Income Credits will be gone?
2
!
#1181.1 - Sat Dec 29, 2012 11:02 AM EST
Here's the links, you want more?
http://www.bread.org/ol/2012/tax-credits/
http://www.taxcreditsforworkingfamilies.org/earned-income-tax-credit/
Still won't defend your lies, Mommy?
Perhaps you stop looking in the mirror and talking about yourself?
Or do you not have the minimal IQ to handle that yourself?
Momma, those 2 tax credits are already set to expire are not part of the fiscal cliff.
Yes and they won't be extended....................let the rest of them expire also, we need to go over the cliff and start over again on the tax laws, and yes that includes closing loopholes that even my family has enjoyed.
My point in the prior post is that these credits are actually bonuses and not tax refunds for low income families, in other words, we have to stop the getting something for nothing mentality.
Do you think it's fair that someone that actually only had $300 deducted all year for taxes should get a $5000 refund? Who pays for that? We taxpayers do.
We need to broaden the taxpayer base and reduce spending. That will never happen if we don't go over the cliff. 1 trillion over 10 years does nothing for the debt.
Bring on the fiscal cliff, bring it on.
Poor Momma....
Page after page of her lies, then she deflects to talking about mirrors! A female Blamo the Clown!
Jabbaman
Give us one moral reason why someone making $250k should pay a higher percentage than anyone else.
Because it's a progressive income tax system, which assumes those with higher incomes have, in part, achieved their incomes due to the broader political system consisting of the rule of law, the sanctity of contract, the rights of private property, etc.
Or, put another way: They have more to lose.
And it's a marginal progressive tax...they only pay at the higher percentage on income OVER $250k/year.
Thank you. I would have answered the same way. The tax system was set up to be a progressive system. That's not moral, but it common sense and ethical.
Profound: MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE
Let 's look at what we have learned from this election:
Twenty-one of 22 incumbent senators were re-elected, and 353 of 373 incumbent members of the House were re-elected.
The American people have re-elected 94 percent of the incumbents who were running for re-election to an institution that has an approval rating of about 9 percent.
This indicates, as an electorate, we are a nation of idiots. We're now stuck with the useless, dysfunctional government that we deserve....
Cut and paste much, Waterballoon? That is second time you posted that this morning.
The Big O is optimistic? Should be, after all, those politics had to work on their Sunday. DC per diem must be pretty good. Never seen so many politicos, so well tailored, barbered, pearly whited implanted, etc. Must have a great pay scale. Whadda country.
"screw 98% to protect the 2% that are richer than god!"
That's the GOP!
Joe, your comment below looks like the pot calling the kettle black. Besides, she seems to have many people agree with her. You don't.
"Seeking, go pound it, most people are sick of Feisty. All she does is make rude comments, typical libtard"
Definitions:
"Teapubliturd" someone who dosn't give a damn about anyone else
"Libtard" anyone who dosen't agree 100% with a "Teapubliturd"
Red head that is what ,s wrong with this nation. You voted for bama and you want the rich to keep you up. Look at my stock. It is going down every day. bama is the problem.Get off your rear and go to work like I did. Oh yes I was born in Techwood in Atlanta a housing project ,went to work for 33 years with the same company and I go work out every day and drive back to my Mountain Home in a gated sub.and don,t want to give it away. Oh I will let you sit down and eat dinner with me. God bless America. Mountain Man
The DOW was 6800 when Obama took office, about 13,000 today...Obama has really hurt you, hasn't he?
The DOW has nearly doubled since 2009.
say, don't forget that for the last months of GW's term, 750,000 jobs A MONTH were being lost, and now we've had 34 straight months of job GROWTH!
I believe it may be over 40 months now...maybe just under....
But, then again, according to the crybaby losers, Obama has accomplished nothing. What a joke they are!
Who's getting all this free stuff and why? Could it have anything to do with the lack of jobs, which our conservative friends promised to create with the increased revenue they realized through a reduction in taxes. Is this why we have 22 million people either unemployed or under-employed and a further 45 million on welfare?
Perhaps this could have been avoided if those that benefited from current tax policies the most would have simply done the responsible thing and kept their promise.
After the Bush-Era tax cuts became law, the U.S. economy added 8 million new jobs from mid-2003 to early 2007 and the unemployment rate fell to 4.6%. It seems that those bipartisan tax cuts did just what they were advertised to do. According to the CBO, 80% of the benefits of those tax cuts go to those in the middle class as well as those on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder.
Extending existing tax rates does not provide additional stimulus to create jobs, but it does avoid the loss of jobs that would occur if tax rates are increased.
So let all the tax cuts expire, they haven't helped the economy.
Peter17
Actually it was less than 4 million job since 2003 but nice cherry picking.
What was the unemployment rate when Bush took office and what was it when he left?
The Bush tax cuts fueled an unsustainable economy built on a real estate bubble.
Why is it that the folks on the far right just assume that if someone disagrees with them (and counters their LIES), they are a "far left liberal"???
Seems that's all they got, as logic has failed them!
The VAST majority of people are in the middle of the political spectrum! That's why the majority also agrees with Obama's plan (no, I'm NOT a far left liberal!)
Don't worry, raise taxes on the people who make over $250,000 a year and that will make it all better.... They're evil, they can afford it.
What's the difference between Obama and a thug? He doesn't need a gun to scr*w us...
wilman. Things they won't tell you on Fox Noise:
EVERYONE will get a cut on the first $250k of TAXABLE income. If someone has $250,001 of taxable income, the tax will rise for only $1 of it!
@wilman,
What is the difference between a Republican and a leech?
One is a disgusting, slimy, blood-sucking, ugly creature....the other is a harmless, earthworm-like animal,
Where are the Orange Boner's "jobs, jobs jobs!" his party PROMISED in 2010??
People voted the idea down when they re-elected Odunmbo.
That's easy. The jobs are sitting on Harry Reid's desk. Bill after bill that he won't allow to be debated on the Senate floor.
28 BIPARTISIAN bills are sitting on "NO Vote" Harry's desk.
Obama and Reid blocked legislation from the House of Representatives that would have helped the economy do better and create more jobs.
Dahhhh.. bipartisan my BUTT! Whacky teastains alone! Like the 35 bills they passed to repeal Obama care!
Every "jobs" bill the house sent to the Senate included repealing Obamacare. That's why the Senate hasn't voted on them.
Has anyone from the GOP posting here READ the "jobs" bills? EVERY ONE of them, every one of them, contains some sort of windfall clause for the wealthy....that is why they sit.
Get real, GOPers, you grasp at straws to justify your losses in November.