Boehner: It's now up to Democrats to fix "fiscal cliff"

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, today sought to push the onus of dealing with the impending "fiscal cliff" back onto Democrats, referring to the series of bills passed by House Republicans in the last year that would have eliminated significant chunks of the "cliff," including an extension of all Bush-era tax cuts passed by the GOP-led House in August.

"We have been waiting since August 1st for the Senate to act," said Boehner.

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Boehner: "Fiscal cliff" fix now up to Dems

Boehner also indicted the White House's role in eschewing compromise, saying President Obama "simply won't deal honestly with entitlement reform and the big issues that are facing our country."

Boehner further brushed aside suggestions that yesterday's aborted vote on his "Plan B" proposal to avoid the "fiscal cliff" represented a rebuke of his speakership, arguing, "We may not have been able to get the votes last night," but that House Republicans weren't "taking that out on me."

• "Plan B" is dead; what's next for "fiscal cliff"?
• Does Boehner's "Plan B" have the votes to pass?

"There was a perception created that that vote last night was going to increase taxes," said Boehner. "I disagree with that characterization of the bill, but that impression was out there."

Boehner's "Plan B" would have retained current tax rates on household income up to $1 million while allowing rates to rise on income in excess of that threshold.

Despite the self-inflicted political black eye dealt by GOP leaders' decision to pull the bill from the floor, Boehner argued, "Nobody ought to read anything into this. We've got differences," citing "A number of our members who just didn't want to be perceived as having raised taxes."

He continued to defend the compromise represented in his "Plan B" proposal, arguing that if 100 people are drowning in a pool, you don't refuse to save any of them because you can't save all of them - instead, save as many as you can. The lesson of the metaphor - that politicians should pass what they agree upon and leave disputed areas for later - has been voiced in various forms by President Obama and congressional Democrats in the past, who have argued that we should extend middle class tax cuts now - a position shared by both parties - and hash out the fate of high-end tax cuts later.

When asked whether last night's cancelled vote signals that he is walking away from the "fiscal cliff" negotiations, Boehner said, "Absolutely not. Listen, I'm proud of our members. They do a great job on behalf of their constituents, and frankly a great job on behalf of our country. But what Mr. Cantor outlined last night is that the House would come back as needed, and we're prepared to come back if needed."

"We stand ready to continue in dialogue with this president to actually fix the problem," said Boehner.

But with only 11 days to go before the "fiscal cliff" lands on January 1st, when the automatic spending cuts and tax hikes are set to kick in, the path forward is as enduringly opaque as ever, a fact alluded to by Boehner's fatalistic remark that "God only knows" how the two parties will be able to reach an accord on tax reform.

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Pelosi to GOP: "Go back to the negotiation table"

"Because of the political divide in the country, because of the divide here in Washington, trying to bridge these differences has been difficult," said Boehner. "If it were easy," the speaker argued, it would have been done "decades before."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, for her part, said that Republicans' ill-fated push to enact "Plan B" was "a path that led them over the cliff."

Pelosi called on Republicans in the House to "go back to the negotiation table," saying they had "no right" to leave for the Holidays without resolving the "fiscal cliff."

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Reid calls on House to pass middle-class tax cuts

Meanwhile, in a floor speech in the upper chamber, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called on the House to vote on a bill, already passed by the Senate five months ago, that would extend the Bush-era tax cuts for household income under $250,000, saying, "We know it would pass," and adding that the only reason Boehner won't bring it up is that he too knows it will pass.

President Obama held a public event today to announce the selection of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., as his choice to be his next Secretary of State, but the president did not address the ongoing negotiations over the impending "fiscal cliff."

[magnumdr]

Just leave it up to sombody else. It isn't your responsibility to do anything about this problem. Just push it on to sombody else and your job is done?.

[antoniof123]

This bunch gets funnier and funnier every time they open their mouths.

Too bad this is reality and not TV because the next stepp is depression if they don't fix this mess.

REMEMBER AMERICA THEY CREATED IT!

Now they want the Democrats to fix it. Don't vote John shut up sit down and just agree you moron.

[Unonimus]

I can't believe you Mr. Boehner. You gave to Democrats 5 days to fix what the Tea Party was destroying for 4 years. I am truly sorry for you because you hung with the wrong crowd, but your statement after you lost in the house really angered me. Should we all, all of us come to this point?

[FordJeepFan]

X2 agree 1000%

[bbglow]

Skip the middleman, Speaker Boehner needs to turn the podium over to Grover Norquist to answer the tough questions. America needs to be shown that decisions are being made and their country is being run by people that neither earned nor received their vote.

[1pheasant1]

It is merely a way for the cowards (and chuckleheads) to avoid trampling on the pledge they signed with Grover. They are beholden to him, not you. After the Bush Tax Cuts expire, a bill to reinstate the rates to 98% of Americans will be introduced. Will the GOP shoot it down?

[RobertVBrand]

The Democrats can't fix anything as long as the Republicans vote against it. They even vote against their own bills.

[1pheasant1]

Or filibuster their own bill, like Senator McConnell.

[Think4times]

I say:

NO CHRISTMAS FOR CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT!

Do your damn job!

They should be locked inside until they come up with a solution together.

[darkhorseky]

Its so funny
The fairy tale of taking from the rich and giving to the poor is all ready happening. California has rised taxes buy a Democratic goverment. The state is seeing people exit in droves. So good luck in taking money from people whom are not there.

[1pheasant1]

Nice fantasy, chucklehead. Where'd they go? Arizona?

[hypnotoad72]

Nice try, Boehner.

More people have noticed GOP policies - such as giving taxpayer-funded handouts and other entitlements to corporations that offshore jobs, which in turn worsened the deficit spending.

One cannot offshore jobs, devalue wages, etc, and expect any REAL recovery.

Here's one example:

http://www.ontheissues.org/SenateVote/Party_2005-63.htm

[TJphoto]

According to the Constitution, Congress controls the money. That means Congress caused this 16 Trillion Bill. How many out there think Congress should take a 40% pay cut and lose all perks & benefits until this debt is reduced to Zero? Or do we just keep rewarding incompetence?