Obama Says He'll Veto Boehner's Plan B
If the White House won't buy the House Republicans' backup plan, does that mean it's time for fiscal cliff panic?
By Elspeth Reeve
Not only does he reject it, but President Obama would veto House Speaker John Boehner's "Plan B" for the fiscal cliff — a bill that would extend the Bush tax cuts for income under $1 million separately from other deficit-cutting measures that are being negotiated in the fiscal cliff. The White House said in a statement Wednesday morning that Plan B "places too big of a burden on the middle class, seniors, students and the most vulnerable Americans while asking too little of the wealthiest Americans." If the White House won't buy the House Republicans' backup plan, does that mean it's time for fiscal cliff panic?
Probably not. Roll Call reports lawmakers are showing "flexibility" on the fiscal cliff. When Boehner discussed with Republicans the proposal to raise taxes on the wealthy earlier this week, "The comments were pretty mellow, all the way around," Utah Rep. Bob Bishop told the paper. Nevertheless, there aren't many days left before sequestration kicks in. The Senate won't be able to work for two days as senators go to Hawaii for the funeral services for Sen. Daniel Inouye, as noted by Politico. And Plan B is merely public posturing, it says, with both Boehner and Obama trying to look like the reasonable guy. But it does sound like the distance between the parties may be getting a bit narrower:
Boehner also wants to boost rates on those making more than $1 million, and Obama has set his threshold at $400,000. Reid and Pelosi (D-Calif.) have privately signaled they're willing to increase their offer to $500,000, according to Democratic sources.
But the gap on new revenue is $200 billion according to Democrats, or $300 billion as the GOP claims.