l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 By JARED A. FAVOLE And DAMIAN PALETTA
WASHINGTON—The White House, escalating its effort to knock down a new
Republican budget plan as the country nears a crucial deadline, said it
would veto the current plan offered by House GOP leaders to raise tax rates
only on income above $1 million.
As the high-stakes showdown over the fiscal cliff continues, Republicans and
Democrats continue to debate how much the richest Americans should pay in
taxes. WSJ's David Wessel heads to a poker table to explain the
controversial issue.
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The veto threat Wednesday came as part of a four-page document from the
White House that detailed a number of the Obama administration's objections
to the new proposal from Speaker of the House John Boehner (R., Ohio). To
illustrate the rapid-fire nature of the budget talks, the White House's
analysis was released less than 24 hours after the House Republican plan,
known as "Plan B," was offered to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, the
combination of expiring tax cuts and spending cuts set to begin next year.
"This approach does not meet the test of balance, and the president would
veto the legislation in the unlikely event of its passage," White House
Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said in a statement.
Negotiations between the White House and congressional Republicans have
essentially ground to a halt, senior administration officials said Wednesday
. Officials said staff-level talks haven't been held since Monday, although
lines of communication remain open, a phrase both sides have deployed
frequently.
Mr. Obama, speaking at a White House news briefing, said the two sides aren'
t far apart on a deal, adding that he remains eager to get an agreement with
Mr. Boehner. "If you look at Speaker Boehner's proposal and you look at my
proposal, they're actually pretty close," Mr. Obama said, responding to a
question about whether he was willing to adjust the income level at which
tax increases apply as part of the negotiations.
The president wouldn't say whether he was open to raising his proposal to
tax household income above his current $400,000 proposal. He said, without
elaborating, that he is prepared to do some "very tough things, some things
that some Democrats don't want to see, and probably there are a few
Republicans who don't want to see either."
Mr. Boehner's Plan B implies that the GOP would pass a limited relief bill
this year in order to rejoin the fight, using the coming need to renew the U
.S.'s borrowing authority as a negotiating chip next year.
Mr. Boehner unveiled his alternative plan Tuesday as a way to prevent taxes
from going up in the event he and Mr. Obama can't strike a deal to avoid the
fiscal cliff. The speaker's plan would, among other things, allow tax rates
to rise only for income over $1 million. But the plan has little chance of
passing Congress.
The vote on the legislation is scheduled for Thursday, and is expected to be
so close that passage isn't certain. Leaders of both parties are counting
heads and leaning on their members to follow their lead. House Democratic
Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif) and House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D.,
Md.) are urging Democrats to vote against the bill, and a senior aide said
they haven't yet identified any defectors.
Some Republicans oppose it because it raises taxes or because it leaves in
place the defense-spending cuts scheduled to take place at year-end. After a
long closed-door party meeting to explain the legislation Tuesday night,
GOP leaders have been conducting a head count and urging members to support
it.
Mr. Pfeiffer hinted at why the plan was unlikely to pass. "The deficit
reduction is minimal, and perversely, given its authors, solely through tax
increases with no spending cuts," he said.
A spokesman for Mr. Boehner, Brendan Buck, said the White House's opposition
to the GOP backup plan is "growing more bizarre and irrational by the day."
He said: "In the absence of a 'balanced' solution from the president…we
must act to stop taxes from rising across the board in 12 days."
Mr. Obama has threatened to veto a number of bills since becoming president,
though has only had to follow through on the threat a couple of times. His
latest threat is more of a warning than a policy move, as a number of
Democrats and Republicans are hopeful that lawmakers will settle their
differences and reach an agreement before Christmas. Still, there are also a
number of lawmakers from both parties that want to drag the fight into the
final days of December and possibly into January.
Next month, roughly $500 billion in spending cuts and tax increases begin.
Policy makers are trying to craft a package of budget changes that could be
used to replace the fiscal cliff, but a number of differences remain.
Mr. Obama and Mr. Boehner are the lead negotiators and traded fresh
proposals this week. Mr. Obama, for the first time since 2008, this week
dropped his insistence that taxes go up on households making more $250,000 a
year.
The president's latest proposal calls for raising tax rates on income above
$400,000, which is lower than the threshold pushed by House Republicans. The
White House and Republicans also disagree on the level of spending cuts
that should be part of any plan.
The Plan B approach is seen by members of both parties as a way for Mr.
Boehner to keep pressure on the president to make further concessions.
Mr. Obama said he would reach out to leaders in the next couple of days "and
find out what is it that's holding this thing up. What is holding it up?"
—Carol E. Lee contributed to this article. | l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 2 DAVID PASS Wrote:
More disingenuous words from an un-serious President and his lackey
administration. Congress & the President manufactured this lose / lose
proposition and coincident time line and now taxpayers get to watch this
theater play out at their expense.
Over-tax, over-spend, over-cut, over-promise, over-control, over-compensate,
and always under-deliver... again and again and again.
Reagan had it right. Government IS the problem. |
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