Cantor Confident in Plan B's Passage as House Readies Vote Tonight Republicans will move forward with a vote this evening to pass House Speaker John Boehner's so-called Plan B option on the "fiscal cliff," a permanent extension of the current tax rates for taxpayers making up to $1 million, while also replacing the first year of automatic cuts to defense and domestic programs set to take effect Jan. 2. While Republicans voted months ago to replace the sequester and extend all the current tax rates, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said the votes today will demonstrate Republicans are "taking concrete action to avoid the "fiscal cliff."" "Our members understand that the nation faces the largest tax increase in its history come January 1, 2013," Cantor, R-Va., said. We protect 99.81 percent of American taxpayers from a tax increase in these very difficult economic times. We hope that the Senate will take this bill up along with the Spending Reduction Act and get the job done in lieu of or absent any kind of agreement coming from the White House. The Budget Control Act, signed into law August 2011, requires $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts equally divided between defense and domestic programs, in the next decade, with the first $109 billion due to take effect Jan. 2. Cantor said the sequester replacement, formally known as the Spending Reduction Act of 2012, creates about $200 billion in additional savings for deficit reduction and is "designed to stop fraud, to eliminate waste and, frankly, to replace the sequester that is indiscriminate in its cuts." The president has threatened to veto the legislation, and Senate Democrats have pledged to ignore it and let it collect dust. "We are committed in the House, as you know, to address the underlying problem, which is the spending and that's why we're bringing this bill forward," Cantor said. Absent a balanced offer from the president, this is our nation's best option and Senate Democrats should take up both of these measures immediately. But even if the bill moves on to the Senate, Cantor promised to keep House Republicans in town until the stalemate on the "fiscal cliff" is broken. "We're committed to fixing the problem here so we can get on about a growing economy," he added. We also realize that the president's unwillingness or inability to come to a balanced agreement with our speaker presents us with very little option other than to try and work hard to avoid a tax hike on so many millions of Americans. This is just the beginning and a down payment for our, what I hope will be fruitful bipartisan discussions next Congress trying to address the spending problems.