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Senator Reid rejects Boehner "fiscal cliff" backup plan
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid speaks to reporters in the Capitol in Washington December 13, 2012. Congressional leaders and the Obama administration are attempting to negotiate a deal to avoid the so-called ''fiscal cliff'' and work toward a deficit reduction package in the next session of Congress that begins in January.
Credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
WASHINGTON |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Speaker John Boehner's backup plan that would simply extend low income tax rates for households with incomes below $1 million a year "cannot pass both houses of Congress," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Tuesday.
Reid, a Democrat, said Boehner instead should focus on reaching a broad deficit-reduction deal with President Barack Obama. "Now is the time to show leadership, not kick the can down the road," Reid said.
Last July, Reid's Democrats passed a bill in the Senate that would have continued low tax rates, which are set to expire on December 31, for families with net incomes below $250,000.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan)
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Actually, the latest counter offer from Obama could probably pass the House right now–provided enough Democrats get onboard with the Cost-of-Living adjustments to Social Security–if Boehner would drop the asinine Delay rule of the majority refusing a vote on a bill unless the majority of their caucus agrees to vote for it. Essentially, to get any bill to pass the House of Representatives, you need a majority of the majority, instead of counting on votes from the other party. It was instituted to maintain a strict party unity–but has become incredibly counter-productive in this age where there is such a severe schism within the Republican Party, between the Tea Party sect and the more moderate wing. The DeLay essentially insures that there can be no true bipartisanship, and wastes valuable time in these situations–the fiscal cliff, the debt-ceiling battles–where deadlines are of the essence.
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