4 years ago 
 
 Washington (CNN) – Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner drew a line in the sand over taxes in defense of the Obama administration’s controversial proposal to avoid the fiscal cliff. 
 
 In an interview with CNN’s Candy Crowley on "State of the Union," Geithner insisted that any compromise on the plan he presented to congressional Republicans on Thursday, which includes $1.6 trillion dollars in tax revenue, cuts to Medicare, and another $50 billion in stimulus spending, must contain an expiration of the Bush tax cuts for income over $250,000. 
 
 
 
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 “There's not going to be an agreement without rates going up,” Geithner said in the interview, which aired Sunday. “If they are going to force higher rates on virtually all Americans because they're unwilling to let tax rates go up on 2 percent of Americans, then, I mean that's the choice they're going to have to make." 
 
 While he maintains the administration will refuse any deal without the tax hikes, Geithner was optimistic about the negotiations, showing room for compromise as well. 
 
 “It's a very good plan and we think it's a good basis for these conversations,” he said. “What we did is put forward a very comprehensive, very carefully designed mix of savings and tax rates to help us put us back on a path to stabilizing our debt, fixing our debt and living within our means.” 
 
 The fiscal cliff, which begins in January if Congress and the administration fail to come to an agreement over a number of spending issues, includes automatic reductions in defense and non-defense spending, the end of the payroll tax holiday, and the expiration of extended unemployment benefits. Going over the cliff has the potential to set the U.S. back into another recession. 
 
 Republican reaction after Thursday's meeting with Geithner sharply conflicted with the secretary’s assessment of the negotiations and the plan itself. A frustrated House Speaker John Boehner said that “we are nowhere.” 
 
 “The day after the election, I said the Republican majority would accept new revenue as part of a balanced approach that includes new spending cuts and reforms,” Boehner said. “Now the White House took three weeks to respond with any kind of proposal, and much to my disappointment, it wasn't a serious one.” 
 
 Increased revenues were traditionally scorned by Republicans. Boehner put them on the table by offering to close tax loopholes, reform the tax code and lower rates – a significant move for the leader of House Republicans. He says he will not raise any tax rates and the administration proposing them brought the talks to a “stalemate.” 
 
 Geithner disagreed with the speaker’s assessment on the negotiations. He said the administration offered $600 billion in cuts to health care and other mandatory programs combined with the cuts still lingering from last year’s debt ceiling deal (which will result in automatic spending cuts without an agreement by the end of the year) make this “a very substantial packet of reforms." 
 
 On the $50 billion in proposed stimulus that includes infrastructure spending, the secretary insisted that it is “something we can afford,” calling it a “modest investment in making this country stronger.” 
 
 “I think right now, the best thing to do is for them to come to us and say, look, here's what we think makes sense,” Geithner said. “What we can't do is try to figure out what's going to be good for them. They have to come tell us.” 
 
 “I think we're far apart still, but I think we're moving closer together,” he said. “This is something we can do. And I think we're going to get there, because there's too much at stake not to get there, not just for the American economy, but for the world economy.” 
 
 The secretary acknowledged the difficulty the Republican-controlled House will have passing this deal, opening the door to concessions on the administration’s part. 
 
 “They're in a hard place. And they're having a tough time trying to figure out what they can do, what they can get support from their members for. That's understandable,” Geithner said. “This is very difficult for them, and we might need to give them a little more time to figure out where they go next.” 
 
 Reflecting on his time at the Treasury (Geithner plans on leaving the administration sometime after a deal on the fiscal cliff is made), the secretary expressed content and optimism over his four years in office. 
 
 “I think we're in a much better position than, actually, I thought was realistic, in those darkest days of this financial crisis, when there was a real risk of catastrophic collapse. And I think all Americans should be much more confident today than at any time in the last four or five, six years,” he said. I'm very proud of being part of that, even with all the challenges we have ahead.” 
 
 –Follow Adam Levy on Twitter: @adamplevycnn 
 
 Watch State of the Union with Candy Crowley Sundays at 9am ET. For the latest from State of the Union click here. ||||| A Republican Senator dismissed the final stages of negotiations to avert the fiscal cliff — and perhaps a recession — as “inconsequential” on Monday. 
 
 “Whatever happens today is really inconsequential,” Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe. “It really doesn’t matter. It’s going to happen. We will have a solution.” 
 
 In a follow-up interview with POLITICO, Corker made clear he meant the deal would be “inconsequential” to efforts to reduce the federal deficit, not to the overall health of the economy. 
 
 “The solution that we’ll ultimately vote on isn’t going to have an impact on long-term deficits,” Corker said. 
 
 (Also on POLITICO: Norquist says tax rates won’t increase) 
 
 Corker said since any deal is unlikely to substantially reduce the federal deficit or cut spending on entitlements, his focus has already moved on to the coming fight over the debt limit. 
 
 “I do hope that during this debt ceiling debate, we’ll actually get into the kind of entitlement reforms that our nation needs to solve its problems,” he said on “Morning Joe.” “But really, this is a lot of fuss about nothing today, unless you make, you know, somewhere between $350,000 a year and $550,000, today’s discussion is totally irrelevant, because that’s all that’s being discussed.” 
 
 Vice President Joe Biden, now leading negotiations for Democrats, has offered to extend the Bush-era tax rates for income below $360,000. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has said $550,000 should be the cutoff for families. McConnell and Biden made progress toward a deal on Sunday night. 
 
 For months, economists have warned that a failure to avert the spending cuts and tax hikes included in the fiscal cliff would likely send the economy back into recession. And details on how Congress plans to jump over elements of the cliff — including $1.2 trillion in cuts to defense and domestic spending, a spike in the estate tax and an extension of unemployment benefits — aren’t clear. In the interview with POLITICO, Corker was confident Congress would find solutions to most of these issues. 
 
 “I know we’re going to solve it,” he said.
– Details are emerging on Treasury secretary Tim Geithner's trek to Capitol Hill today to present the White House's wish list in the fiscal cliff talks, a move that "in some sense amounts to a formal start of negotiations," reports the Wall Street Journal. The short version seems to be that he asked for a lot—the proposal was "loaded with Democratic priorities and short on detailed spending cuts," says the New York Times—and Republicans let him know it. "No substantive progress has been made in the talks between the White House and the House over the last two weeks," complained John Boehner afterward. Added Mitch McConnell: The White House has taken a "step backward." Some highlights of what Geithner requested, from the Times, Journal, and Washington Post: No more debt ceiling—Congress would no longer need to approve an increase in the federal borrowing limit. It could try to block one, but the president would be able to veto. $1.6 trillion in tax increases over 10 years, including an immediate increase in rates for the richest Americans. (Politico says the final figure will be closer to $1.2 trillion once all the "huffing and puffing" is over.) $400 billion in savings over a decade from Medicare and other entitlement programs. $50 billion in new stimulus spending on infrastructure. Extensions of the payroll tax holiday and emergency jobless benefits.