News article:

The tit-for-tat over avoiding the fiscal cliff slogged onward Sunday, as Senate leaders remained essentially stuck following a frantic day of horse-trading and bitter attacks by both Democrats and Republicans. 
  
 (PHOTOS: 11 side effects of going over the cliff) 
  
 Both sides now have 48 hours to resolve their differences, or risk a double whammy of historic tax hikes and spending cuts that will make them even more unpopular outside-the-Beltway. 
  
 After every breakthrough, there seemed to be a new obstacle standing in the way of a deal, underlining the perception that the nation’s lawmakers and the White House simply can’t come to terms with each other. Vice President Joe Biden — who had remained on the sidelines for much of the negotiations — returned to Washington on Sunday after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) requested it. 
  
 “Mr. President, I rise today frustrated, embarrassed and angry,” said West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin on the floor Sunday. “It is absolutely inexcusable that all of us find ourselves in this place at this time, standing on the floor of the Senate in front of the American people hours before we plunge off the fiscal cliff. With no plan and no apparent hope.” 
  
 After loud Democratic protests on Sunday, Republicans agreed to take off the table a controversial provision that would have cut Social Security benefits. But more hurdles emerged, including over automatic spending cuts set to take place next year, and the rates for estate taxes that are set to balloon if no deal is reached by the new year. 
  
 (PHOTOS: Fiscal cliff's key players) 
  
 With no deal at hand, Senate leaders were preparing alternative plans to avoid the cliff’s full impact, including a fall-back option floated by Democrats to force through an extension of current tax rates for families who make less than $250,000, as well as new spending measures to extend jobless benefits for two million unemployed Americans. Republicans were still weighing whether they’d demand 60 votes for passage of even a limited measure, though the prospects for such a bill in the GOP-controlled House remained bleak. 
  
 The House Republican leadership moved Sunday night to give itself expedited authority to bring legislation to the floor in case there was an opening. 
  
 There is also clearly growing tensions between McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the pair who took over the fiscal cliff talks on Friday following weeks of fruitless discussions between President Barack Obama and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). 
  
 Democrats are angry at McConnell, believing he’s adopted the “majority of majority” standard Boehner has demanded in the House for the Senate. McConnell does not believe Reid is playing straight with him, saying the Nevada Democrats has shown little urgency by dragging his feet through the weekend of talks. 
  
 McConnell even called in Biden to help break the logjam, although the vice president has offered nothing different from Reid’s position. 
  
 “There is still significant distance between the two sides, but negotiations continue,” Reid said Sunday evening, announcing that the chamber would return to session Monday morning. 
  
 On Sunday afternoon, a new sticking point emerged over “turning off” the sequester, the tens of billions of dollars in spending cuts slated to hit the Pentagon and federal agencies beginning Jan. 2. Democrats want to use some of the revenue from the increased taxes of a cliff deal to postpone those cuts. Republicans, however, are objecting to that proposal, saying they want savings from other areas. 
  
 Democrats have floated a potential compromise to use a portion of the new revenue and other savings from a cliff deal — a “50/50 split” — to “turn off” the sequester, but it is unclear if GOP leaders will agree to that offer. 
  
 And Biden’s inclusion in the negotiations — similar to the role he played in previous legislative fights involving McConnell, an old Senate colleague — sets up a “good cop, bad cop” scenario for Democrats, with Reid playing the heavy and Biden able to work more closely with GOP leaders on Capitol Hill. ||||| “Talk to Joe Biden and McConnell,” Mr. Reid told reporters when asked if negotiations were continuing. 
  
 In the balance are more than a half-trillion dollars in tax increases on virtually every working American and across-the-board spending cuts that are scheduled to begin Tuesday. Taken together, they threaten to push the economy back into recession. 
  
 “It looks awful,” said Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois , the second-ranking Democrat. “I’m sure the American people are saying, with so much at stake why are they waiting so late to get this done?” 
  
 Photo 
  
 Senator Lindsey Graham , Republican of South Carolina , who had said early Sunday that he thought a deal was within reach, said later on his Twitter feed, “I think we’re going over the cliff.” 
  
 Weeks of negotiations between President Obama and Speaker John A. Boehner inched toward a deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff, while locking in trillions of dollars in deficit reduction over 10 years and starting an effort to overhaul the tax code and entitlement programs like Medicare . But earlier this month, Mr. Boehner walked away from those talks. 
  
 Instead he tried to reach a much more modest deal to avoid a fiscal crisis by extending the expiring tax cuts for incomes under $1 million. When Mr. Boehner’s own Republican members revolted, he ceded negotiations to the Senate. But compromise has proved equally elusive in that chamber. 
  
 Absent a last-minute deal, Mr. Reid is expected to move on Monday to bring to a vote a stopgap measure pushed by Mr. Obama, which would retain lower tax rates for incomes below $250,000 and extend unemployment benefits. But it was not clear that would even get a vote. The objection of a single senator on Monday would run out the clock on the 112th Congress before a final tally could be taken. 
  
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 Mr. Obama appeared on the NBC program “Meet the Press” on Sunday and implored Congress to act. “We have been talking to the Republicans ever since the election was over,” Mr. Obama said in the interview. “They have had trouble saying yes to a number of repeated offers.” 
  
 He added, “Now the pressure’s on Congress to produce.” 
  
 After the talks broke down over the inflation demand, Senate Republicans emerged from a closed-door meeting on Sunday afternoon to declare the issue off the table for now. Senator John McCain , Republican of Arizona , said that holding the line against raising taxes on high-income households while fighting for cuts to Social Security was “not a winning hand.” 
  
 Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. 
  
 Then they mustered a new talking point, saying Democrats want to raise taxes only to spend more money. Their new objection: Democrats are seeking a one- to two-year “pause” for across-the-board spending cuts and an extension of expired unemployment benefits for two million people. 
  
 “We raise taxes, and we spend more?” asked Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison , Republican of Texas . “It’s business as usual.” 
  
 For their part, Democrats beat back the inflation proposal, and then promptly proclaimed themselves incensed that Republicans would not soften their position on a generous level of taxation on inherited estates and an insistence that a final deal permanently prevent the alternative minimum tax , a parallel tax system meant to ensure that wealthy people pay more, from expanding to affect more of the middle class. 
  
 Photo 
  
 Democrats were also demanding that across-the-board cuts to military and domestic programs — known as the “sequester” — at least be delayed. 
  
 “We’re not here to defend government, we’re here to make sure of the defense of our country,” said Senator Barbara A. Mikulski , Democrat of Maryland , whose state would be hit particularly hard. “Sequester has consequences.” 
  
 Senate Democratic aides were openly making legislative plans for later this week, to press Democratic proposals after the fiscal deadline is breached — and after the next Congress is sworn in on Thursday with more Democrats in both the House and the Senate. 
  
 But officials close to the negotiations said the talks were continuing, centered for now on a new axis, Mr. McConnell and Mr. Biden. 
  
 Advertisement Continue reading the main story 
  
 Much of the umbrage was oddly discordant. Mr. Obama has long advocated for a permanent fix to the alternative minimum tax, which must be “patched” each year to keep it from applying to middle-income families. Until this weekend, both Democrats and Republicans appeared willing to let the across-the-board cuts take effect, at least temporarily, while a larger deficit deal is negotiated early next year. 
  
 Indeed, many Republicans were the loudest in protesting the cuts. Now that Democrats want them canceled, Republicans equate that position to raising taxes in order to spend more. 
  
 On some of the biggest sticking points, the two sides are now inches apart. Barely a week after House Republicans refused to vote to allow taxes to rise on incomes over $1 million, Senate Republicans proposed allowing tax rates to rise on incomes over $450,000 for individuals and $550,000 for couples. Democrats countered with a proposal to extend expiring Bush-era tax cuts up to $360,000 for individuals and $450,000 for couples. For both sides, that meant major movement. Mr. Obama has been holding firm at a $250,000 threshold. 
  
 Of course, a big question hung over the negotiations in the Senate: even if the Senate can find an accord, would it pass the House? 
  
 Even on the estate tax , the two sides are not far apart, although their language is. Republicans want to tax estates valued above $5 million at 35 percent. Democrats want to tax inheritances above $3.5 million at 45 percent. 
  
 If that sounds like a bridgeable divide, Democrats are not conceding an inch. “The net result is that 6,000 Americans would get a $1-million-a-year tax break on their estate tax,” Mr. Durbin said. “The Republicans once again are ready to shut us down over not 2 percent of the population, but 0.1 percent of the population.” |||||
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– With the fiscal cliff in sight, Democrats and Republicans are no longer talking. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell reached a "major setback" today over a fairly wonky provision known as "chained CPI," Democratic sources tell Politico. A means of calculating entitlement benefits, CPI is anathema to many liberals because it would give Social Security beneficiaries lower payments. And Democrats say they have made other concessions, like raising taxes only for those earning more than $400,000. McConnell spoke on the Senate floor today, saying Republicans hadn't received a response to their offer from last night, the New York Times reports. Reid responded that Democrats had no counter-offer because they were "apart on some pretty big issues." President Obama said today on Meet the Press that he would accept "chained CPI" but only as part of a bigger deal that includes at least $1.2 trillion in new revenue over a decade. As it stands, Reid and McConnell are cutting a smaller deal to head off certain tax hikes and Medicare cuts, without tackling the deficit or preventing $109 billion in defense and domestic spending cuts slated for this year.
Nyhetsartikel: Tit-for-tat över att undvika den fiskala klippan inloggade på framåt söndag, som senatens ledare förblev i huvudsak fast efter en frenetisk dag av hästhandel och bittra attacker av både demokrater och republikaner. (FOTOS: 11 biverkningar av att gå över klippan) Båda sidor har nu 48 timmar på sig att lösa sina meningsskiljaktigheter, eller riskera en dubbel whammy av historiska skattevandringar och utgiftsnedskärningar som kommer att göra dem ännu mer impopulära utanför-the-Beltway. Efter varje genombrott, verkade det finnas ett nytt hinder som står i vägen för en uppgörelse, understryker uppfattningen att nationens lagstiftare och Vita huset helt enkelt inte kan komma till rätta med varandra. Vicepresident Joe Biden — som hade stannat kvar på åskådarplats under en stor del av förhandlingarna — återvände till Washington på söndagen efter att senatens minoritetsledare Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) begärt det. — Mr. President, jag reser mig idag frustrerad, generad och arg, "sade West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin på golvet söndag. — Det är alldeles oförlåtligt, att vi alla befinna oss på denna plats vid denna tid, stående på senatens golv inför det amerikanska folket timmar innan vi störta ned från fiskalklippan. Efter högljudda demokratiska protester på söndag, Republikanerna gick med på att ta bort bordet en kontroversiell bestämmelse som skulle ha minskat socialförsäkringsförmåner. Men fler hinder uppstod, inklusive över automatiska utgiftsnedskärningar som ska äga rum nästa år, och skattesatserna för fastighetsskatter som är inställda på ballong om ingen affär nås av det nya året. (Photos: Fiscal clips nyckelspelare) Utan någon affär för hand, Senatsledare förberedde alternativa planer för att undvika klippans fulla genomslag, inklusive en reserv alternativ flöt av demokrater för att tvinga genom en förlängning av nuvarande skattesatser för familjer som tjänar mindre än $ 250.000, samt nya utgiftsåtgärder för att förlänga arbetslösa förmåner för två miljoner arbetslösa amerikaner. Republikanerna vägde fortfarande om de skulle kräva 60 röster för att passera ens en begränsad åtgärd, även om utsikterna för ett sådant lagförslag i GOP-kontrollerade kammaren förblev dyster. Kammarrepublikanska ledningen flyttade söndagskvällen för att ge sig själv påskyndad auktoritet för att få till stånd en lagstiftning om det skulle bli en öppning. Det finns också tydligt växande spänningar mellan McConnell och senaten Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), paret som tog över finanspolitiskt klippsamtal på fredagen efter veckor av fruktlösa diskussioner mellan president Barack Obama och talman John Boehner (R-Ohio). Demokraterna är arga på McConnell, tror att han har antagit “majoritet majoritet” standard Boehner har krävt i kammaren för senaten. McConnell tror inte att Reid spelar hetero med honom, säger Nevadademokraterna har visat föga brådska genom att släpa fötterna genom helgen av samtal. McConnell kallade till och med in Biden för att hjälpa till att bryta logjamen, även om vicepresidenten inte har erbjudit något annat än Reids position. — Det är fortfarande betydande avstånd mellan de båda sidorna, men förhandlingarna fortsätta, sade Reid söndagskvällen, i det han meddelade, att kammaren skulle återkomma till sessionen måndag morgon. På söndag eftermiddag, en ny klamrande punkt fram över "stänga av" sequester, de tiotals miljarder dollar i utgiftsnedskärningar planeras att slå Pentagon och federala myndigheter börjar jan. 2. Demokraterna vill använda en del av intäkterna från de höjda skatterna från en klippaffär för att skjuta upp dessa nedskärningar. Republikanerna motsätter sig dock det förslaget och säger att de vill ha besparingar från andra områden. Demokraterna har flutit en potentiell kompromiss för att använda en del av de nya intäkterna och andra besparingar från en klippaffär — en ”50/50 split” — för att ”stänga av” bovaren, men det är oklart om GOP-ledarna kommer att gå med på detta erbjudande. Och Bidens deltagande i förhandlingarna - liknande den roll han spelade i tidigare lagstiftningsstrider med McConnell, en gammal senatskollega - sätter upp ett "bra polis, dålig polis" scenario för demokrater, med Reid spelar tung och Biden kan samarbeta närmare med GOP ledare på Capitol Hill. »» »Prata med Joe Biden och McConnell», sade mr Reid till reportrar, när han frågade om förhandlingarna fortforo. I saldot är mer än en halv miljard dollar i skattehöjningar på praktiskt taget varje arbetande amerikanska och övergripande utgiftssänkningar som är planerade att börja tisdag. Tillsammans hotar de att driva ekonomin tillbaka till lågkonjunktur. "Det ser hemskt ut", sade senator Richard J. Durbin i Illinois, den näste demokraten. “Jag är säker på att det amerikanska folket säger, med så mycket på spel varför väntar de så sent för att få detta gjort?” Foto Senator Lindsey Graham, republikan i South Carolina, som hade sagt tidigt på söndagen att han trodde att en affär var inom räckhåll, sade senare på hans Twitter feed, “Jag tror att vi går över klippan.” Veckor av förhandlingar mellan president Obama och talman John A. Boehner inches mot en affär för att avvärja den så kallade skatteklippan, samtidigt låsa in biljoner dollar i underskott minskning över 10 år och börja en ansträngning att se över skattekod och rättigheter program som Medicare. Men tidigare i månaden, så lämnade mr Boehner de samtalen. Istället försökte han nå en mycket mer blygsam uppgörelse för att undvika en skattekris genom att förlänga de utlöpande skattesänkningarna för inkomster under 1 miljon dollar. När Boehners egna republikanska medlemmar revolterade, överlät han förhandlingarna till senaten. Men kompromissen har visat sig lika svårfångad i denna kammare. Frånvarande en sista minuten affär, Mr Reid förväntas gå på måndag för att få till en omröstning en stopp åtgärd som drivs av Mr Obama, som skulle behålla lägre skattesatser för inkomster under $ 250.000 och förlänga arbetslöshetsförmåner. Men det var inte klart att det ens skulle få en röst. En ensam senators invändning på måndagen skulle ta slut klockan på 112:e kongressen innan en sluträkning kunde tas. Annons Fortsätt läsa huvudberättelsen Mr Obama dök upp på NBC-programmet "Möt pressen" på söndag och bad kongressen att agera. "Vi har pratat med republikanerna ända sedan valet var över," sade Mr Obama i intervjun. "De har haft svårt att säga ja till ett antal upprepade erbjudanden." Han tillade, "Nu trycket på kongressen att producera." Efter samtalen bröt ner över inflationen efterfrågan, Senaten republikaner framträdde från ett sluten dörr möte på söndag eftermiddag för att förklara frågan från bordet för nu. Senator John McCain , republikanen i Arizona , sade att hålla linjen mot höjda skatter på höginkomsthushåll samtidigt kämpar för nedskärningar till socialförsäkringen var “inte en vinnande hand.” Nyhetsbrev Registrera dig Fortsätt läsa huvudartikeln Kontrollera att du inte är en robot genom att klicka på rutan. Ogiltig e- postadress. Var snäll och gå in igen. Välj ett nyhetsbrev att prenumerera på. Registrera dig Du samtycker till att få enstaka uppdateringar och specialerbjudanden för The New York Times produkter och tjänster. Tack för att du prenumererade. Ett fel har uppstått. Försök igen senare. Visa alla New York Times nyhetsbrev. Sedan tog de upp en ny diskussionspunkt och sade att demokraterna bara vill höja skatterna för att spendera mer pengar. Deras nya invändning: Demokraterna vill ha ett- till tvåårig paus för övergripande utgiftsnedskärningar och en förlängning av utgångna arbetslöshetsersättningar för två miljoner människor. "Vi höjer skatter, och vi spenderar mer?" frågade senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, republikan i Texas. “Det är affärer som vanligt.” Å deras sida, Demokraterna slå tillbaka inflationsförslaget, och sedan snabbt utropade sig uppretade att republikaner inte skulle mjuka upp sin ställning på en generös nivå av beskattning på nedärvda egendomar och en insisterande på att en slutlig affär permanent förhindra den alternativa minimiskatten, ett parallellt skattesystem som innebar att se till att rika människor betalar mer, från att expandera för att påverka mer av medelklassen. Fotodemokraterna krävde också att övergripande nedskärningar till militära och inhemska program - känd som "sequester" - åtminstone bli försenade. "Vi är inte här för att försvara regeringen, vi är här för att se till försvaret av vårt land," sade senator Barbara A. Mikulski, demokrat av Maryland, vars stat skulle drabbas särskilt hårt. “Sequester har konsekvenser.” Senaten Demokratiska bistånd gjorde öppet lagstiftningsplaner för senare i veckan, att trycka demokratiska förslag efter att den finanspolitiska tidsfristen överskrids – och efter nästa kongress svurit in på torsdag med fler demokrater i både kammaren och senaten. Men tjänstemän nära förhandlingarna sade att samtalen fortsatte, centrerade för tillfället på en ny axel, Mr McConnell och Mr Biden. Annons Fortsätt läsa huvudberättelsen Mycket av umbrage var märkligt osämja. Mr Obama har länge förespråkat en permanent fixering av den alternativa minimiskatten, som måste "lappas" varje år för att förhindra att den tillämpas på medelinkomstfamiljer. Fram till denna helg verkade både demokrater och republikaner villiga att låta de övergripande nedskärningarna träda i kraft, åtminstone tillfälligt, medan ett större underskottsavtal förhandlas fram i början av nästa år. Ja, många republikaner protesterade mest mot nedskärningarna. Nu när demokraterna vill att de ska ställas in, är republikanerna lika med den positionen att höja skatterna för att kunna spendera mer. På några av de största klibbpunkterna är de två sidorna nu tum ifrån varandra. Knappt en vecka efter att House Republicans vägrade att rösta för att låta skatterna stiga på inkomster över 1 miljon dollar föreslog senatrepublikanerna att låta skattesatserna stiga på inkomster över 450.000 dollar för individer och 550.000 dollar för par. Demokraterna motverkade ett förslag om att förlänga utlöpande Bush-era skattesänkningar upp till $360.000 för individer och $450.000 för par. För båda sidor betydde det stor rörelse. Mr Obama har hållit fast vid en tröskel på 250 000 dollar. Naturligtvis hängde en stor fråga över förhandlingarna i senaten: även om senaten kan hitta en överenskommelse, skulle den då passera kammaren? Även på boskatten , de två sidorna är inte långt ifrån varandra, även om deras språk är. Republikaner vill beskatta egendomar som är värda över 5 miljoner dollar och 35 procent. Demokraterna vill beskatta arv över 3,5 miljoner dollar på 45 procent. Om det låter som en brokig klyfta, så går demokraterna inte med på det. "Nätresultatet är att 6000 amerikaner skulle få en $ 1-miljoner-om-året skattebrott på sin fastighetsskatt," Mr Durbin sade. “Republikanerna återigen är redo att stänga ner oss över inte 2 procent av befolkningen, men 0,1 procent av befolkningen.” “Vad är en kortare version av ovanstående artikel?
News article: Tit-for-tat at avoiding the fiscal rock logged on forward Sunday, which the Senate leader remained essentially stuck after a frenzied day of horse trade and bitter attacks by both Democrats and Republicans. (FOTOS: 11 side effects of crossing the cliff) Both sides now have 48 hours to resolve their differences, or risk a double whammy of historical tax hikes and spending cuts that will make them even more unpopular off-the-Beltway. After every breakthrough, there seemed to be a new obstacle standing in the way of a settlement, underlining the view that the nation's legislators and the White House simply cannot come to terms with each other. Vice President Joe Biden — who had remained on the sidelines for much of the negotiations — returned to Washington on Sunday after Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) requested it. — Mr. President, I rise today frustrated, embarrassed and angry," said West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin on the floor Sunday. — It is absolutely unforgivable that we are all in this place at this time, standing on the Senate floor before the American people hours before we plunge off the fiscal cliff. After loud democratic protests on Sunday, the Republicans agreed to remove the table a controversial provision that would have reduced social security benefits. However, more obstacles arose, including over automatic spending cuts to take place next year, and the tax rates for property taxes set on balloons if no deal is reached by the new year. (Photos: Fiscal clips key player) Without any deal by hand, Senate leaders prepared alternative plans to avoid the rock's full impact, including a reserve option floated by Democrats to force through an extension of current tax rates for families earning less than $250,000, as well as new spending measures to extend unemployed benefits for two million unemployed Americans. The Republicans still weighed if they would require 60 votes to pass even a limited measure, although the prospects for such a bill in the GOP-controlled House remained gloomy. The Chamber Republican leadership moved Sunday night to give itself speeded up authority to bring about legislation should there be an opening. There are also clearly growing tensions between McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the couple taking over fiscal clip talks on Friday after weeks of fruitless discussions between President Barack Obama and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). Democrats are angry at McConnell, believing he has adopted the “majority majority” standard Boehner has demanded in the Chamber of the Senate. McConnell doesn't think Reid is playing straight with him, says the Nevada Democrats have shown little urgency by dragging their feet through the weekend of talks. McConnell even called in Biden to help break the logo, although the vice president has offered nothing but Reid's position. — There is still considerable distance between the two sides, but negotiations continue, said Reid Sunday evening, in what he announced, that the House would return to the session Monday morning. On Sunday afternoon, a new clinching point forward over the "switch off" sequences, the tens of billions of dollars in spending cuts are planned to beat the Pentagon and federal authorities begin Jan. 2. Democrats want to use some of the revenue from the increased taxes from a clip shop to postpone these cuts. However, the Republicans oppose that proposal and say they want savings from other areas. The Democrats have floated a potential compromise to use some of the new revenues and other savings from a clip shop — a '50/50 split' — to 'switch off' the culprits, but it is unclear whether the GOP leaders will agree to this offer. And Biden's participation in the negotiations - similar to the role he played in previous legislative battles with McConnell, an old Senate colleague - sets up a "good police, bad police" scenario for Democrats, with Reid playing heavy and Biden being able to collaborate more closely with GOP leaders on Capitol Hill. ""Talking to Joe Biden and McConnell," Mr Reid told reporters, when he asked about the negotiations continued. In the balance, more than half a billion dollars in tax increases are on virtually every working U.S. and overall expenditure cuts scheduled to begin Tuesday. Together, they threaten to drive the economy back to recession. "It looks awful," said Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the next Democrat. “I’m sure the American people say, with so much at stake why are they waiting so late to get this done?” Photo Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, who had said early Sunday that he thought a deal was within reach, later said on his Twitter feed, “I think we’re going over the cliff.” Weeks of negotiations between President Obama and Speaker John A. Boehner inches against a deal to ward off the so-called tax cliff, while locking in trillions of dollars in deficit reduction over 10 years and starting an effort to review tax code and rights programs like Medicare. But earlier in the month, Mr. Boehner left those calls. Instead, he tried to reach a much more modest settlement to avoid a tax crisis by extending the outgoing tax cuts for income below $1 million. When Boehner's own Republican members revolted, he transferred the negotiations to the Senate. But the compromise has proved equally elusive in this House. Absent a last-minute deal, Mr Reid is expected to go on Monday to get to a vote a halt measure run by Mr. Obama, who would maintain lower rates of income below $250,000 and extend unemployment benefits. But it wasn't clear that it would even have a voice. A lone senator's objection on Monday would end at the 112th Congress before a final count could be taken. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Mr. Obama appeared on the NBC program "Meet the Press" on Sunday and asked Congress to act. "We've been talking to the Republicans ever since the election was over," said Mr. Obama in the interview. "They've had trouble saying yes to a number of repeated offers." He added, "Now the pressure on Congress to produce." After the talks broke down over inflation demand, Senate Republicans appeared from a closed door meeting on Sunday afternoon to explain the question from the table for now. Senator John McCain, the Republican of Arizona, said keeping the line against increased taxes on high-income households while fighting for cuts to social security was “not a winning hand.” Newsletter Register Continue reading the main article Check that you are not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please go back inside. Select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign up You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times products and services. Thank you for subscribing. There's been an error. Try again later. Show all New York Times newsletters. Then they raised a new point of discussion and said that Democrats just want to raise taxes to spend more money. Their new objection: Democrats want one- to two-year break for overall spending cuts and an extension of expired unemployment benefits for two million people. "We raise taxes, and we spend more?" asked Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican of Texas. “It’s business as usual.” On their side, Democrats backfired the inflation proposal, and then quickly exclaimed that Republicans would not soften their position at a generous level of taxation on inherited property and an insistence that a final deal permanently prevent the alternative minimum tax, a parallel tax system that meant ensuring that rich people pay more, from expanding to influence more of the middle class. The photo-democrats also called for overall cuts to military and domestic programs - known as "sequester" - to be at least delayed. "We're not here to defend the government, we're here to ensure the defense of our country," said Senator Barbara A. Mikulski, Democrat of Maryland, whose state would be hit particularly hard. “Sequests have consequences.” Senate Democratic aid openly made legislative plans for later this week, to print democratic proposals after the fiscal deadline is exceeded – and after the next Congress sworn in on Thursday with more Democrats in both the House and Senate. But officials close to the negotiations said that the talks continued, centered for the moment on a new axis, Mr. McConnell and Mr. Biden. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Much of umbrage was strangely discord. Mr. Obama has long advocated a permanent fixation of the alternative minimum tax, which must be "patched" every year to prevent it from being applied to middle income families. Until this weekend, both Democrats and Republicans seemed willing to allow the overall cuts to enter into force, at least temporarily, while a major deficit agreement is negotiated early next year. Yes, many Republicans protested most of the cuts. Now that Democrats want them to be cancelled, Republicans are equal to that position of raising taxes in order to spend more. At some of the largest sticky points, the two sides are now inches apart. Barely a week after House Republicans refused to vote to allow taxes to rise on income over $1 million, the Late Republicans proposed to allow tax rates to rise on income over $450,000 for individuals and $550,000 for couples. Democrats countered a proposal to extend expiring Bush-era tax cuts up to $360,000 for individuals and $450,000 for couples. For both sides, it meant great movement. Mr. Obama has held on to a $250,000 threshold. Of course, there was a big question hanging over the negotiations in the Senate: even if the Senate could find an agreement, would it then pass the House? Even on the nest tax, the two sides are not far apart, even if their language is. Republicans want to tax properties worth over $5 million and 35%. Democrats want to tax inheritance over $3.5 million at 45 percent. If it sounds like a motley gulf, the Democrats won't agree. "The net result is that 6000 Americans would get a $1 million-a-year tax breach on their property tax," Mr. Durbin said. “Republicans are again ready to shut us down over not 2 percent of the population, but 0.1 percent of the population.” “What is a shorter version of the above article?
– Med skatteklippan i sikte pratar demokrater och republikaner inte längre. Senatens majoritetsledare Harry Reid och minoritetsledaren Mitch McConnell nådde idag ett "stort bakslag" över en ganska wonky bestämmelse känd som "kedjad CPI", Demokratiska källor berättar Politico. KPI är ett sätt att beräkna förmånerna, eftersom det skulle ge socialförsäkringstagarna lägre utbetalningar. Och demokraterna säger att de har gjort andra eftergifter, som att höja skatterna bara för dem som tjänar mer än 400 000 dollar. McConnell talade i senaten idag och sa att republikanerna inte hade fått något svar på deras erbjudande från igår kväll, rapporterar New York Times. Reid svarade att demokraterna inte hade något motbud eftersom de var "delaktiga i några ganska stora frågor". President Obama sade idag på Meet the Press att han skulle acceptera "kedjad CPI" men bara som en del av en större affär som inkluderar minst $ 1,2 biljoner i nya intäkter under ett decennium. Reid och McConnell skär ner på en mindre affär för att avvärja vissa skattehöjningar och nedskärningar av Medicare, utan att ta itu med underskottet eller förhindra 109 miljarder dollar i försvar och inhemska utgiftsnedskärningar som planeras för i år.
“With the tax rock in view, Democrats and Republicans no longer talk. Senate majority leader Harry Reid and minority leader Mitch McConnell today reached a "great setback" over a rather wonky provision known as "chained CPI", Democratic sources tell Politico. The CPI is one way of calculating benefits, as it would lower social security recipients' payments. And the Democrats say they've made other concessions, like raising taxes just for those who make more than $400,000. McConnell spoke in the Senate today saying the Republicans had received no response to their offer from last night, reports the New York Times. Reid responded that the Democrats had no counter-offer because they were "participant in some pretty big questions". President Obama said today at Meet the Press that he would accept "chained CPI" but only as part of a major deal that includes at least $1.2 trillion in new revenue for a decade. Reid and McConnell cut down on a smaller deal to ward off some tax increases and cuts by Medicare, without addressing the deficit or preventing $109 billion in defense and domestic spending cuts planned for this year.