As "fiscal cliff" edges near, Obama calls congressional leaders to WH

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell speak to the media at the White House on November 16, 2012 in Washington, D.C. / Roger Wollenberg / Getty Images

With no deal imminent on the looming "fiscal cliff," President Obama, who cut his Hawaiian vacation short today, has summoned congressional leaders to the White House for a seemingly last-ditch meeting on Friday, CBS News has learned.

The two key congressional leaders, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, will be joined by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., at Friday's 3 p.m. ET meeting, which marks the first time the four are meeting with the president since Nov. 16.

"[W]e'll see what the President has to propose," McConnell said in a statement. "Members on both sides of the aisle will review it, and then we'll decide how best to proceed. Hopefully there is still time for an agreement of some kind that saves the taxpayers from a wholly preventable economic crisis."

Meantime, on a conference call with the House GOP Conference this afternoon, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., told Republican lawmakers to be prepared for votes on Sunday night.

All of this action is not indicative that progress is being made on the tax hikes and dramatic budget cuts set to go into effect next Tuesday, however.

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"Fiscal cliff" update: Many predictions, little progress

On the same conference call, Boehner reiterated to his conference that the ball is in the Senate's court. He called on Senate Democrats to pass legislation the Republican-led House passed earlier this year that would extend tax rates for all wage earners and another measure that would replace the across-the-board spending cuts to domestic and defense programs with targeted cuts.

"The House will take this action on whatever the Senate can pass - but the Senate must act," Boehner said.

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Reid: "Fiscal cliff" can be averted with "one vote"

But Reid had a similar message for Boehner earlier in the day: "Take the escape hatch we left you."

Reid: Time is running out to avert "fiscal cliff"
The "fiscal cliff": What to expect if there's no deal

Reid called on Boehner to take up a bill the Senate passed weeks ago that would extend current tax rates for all wage earners making less than $250,000. "The way to avoid the 'fiscal cliff' has been right in the face of Republican leaders for days and days and days...," he said.

On the floor of the Senate this morning, Reid said Boehner "seems to care more about keeping his speakership" than avoiding the tax hikes and federal spending cuts set to go into place in just five days.

Reid's focus on criticizing congressional Republicans today instead of moving a proposal forward was part of a calculated strategy, Democratic aides tell CBS News.

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Little evidence of deal-making on "fiscal cliff"

The aides said Reid is not going to introduce his "fiscal cliff" bill unless McConnell promises he will either allow a straight up-or-down vote on the measure, requiring just 50 votes, or allow Senate Republicans who might support the bill to "vote their conscience" - to vote yes - enabling the measure to meet a 60 vote threshold.

McConnell has yet to give those assurances, and until Reid gets them, he won't introduce his bill, the aides said. Democrats believe Reid's ultimate bill will be the inevitable legislative solution and they don't want to risk anything by sending it to the floor only to see it voted down.  Also, they don't want to force their own members to take a tough vote on a bill that winds up failing.

The latest stalemate over the "fiscal cliff" comes after Boehner's Republican Party rebuked his efforts last week to avert the "cliff." He was forced to pull a bill from the House floor just minutes before the expected vote because Democrats refused to back the measure because it doesn't raise enough revenue and too many Republicans revolted, refusing to raise taxes on anyone. The measure would have raised marginal tax rates only on households making more than $1 million.

Adding to the urgency, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the debt limit will be reached earlier than expected. In a letter to Congressional leadership, Geithner said that as of December 31, the U.S. will reach its debt limit and that the Treasury will have to take "extraordinary measures" to avoid defaulting on its borrowed obligations.

[nuttyworld]

it's obvious that Michelle balances the checkbook in Obama household, otherwise they would have been in the poor house long ago. We need to stop sending borrowed money to foreign countries. We need to to dramatically cut entitlements. funny how obama spoke of working hard to achieve your goals during his endless campaign speeches and yet he insists on squashing anyone who wants to work hard.

[retiredWAC]

Ok, I've been reading and listening to all of this, and here's what I get: The Republicans want a Pay Raise. It's just 1.1%, but it amounts to an additional $1900/mo, in addition to their already substantial $171,000 a year. That comes to $193,800 before taxes and lobby gifts and so forth. The Congress voted to give themselves a pay raise in 2012, while the US Economy was sliding face-first over the cliff. Well, the President stopped their pay raise temporarily so they don't get it until March 2013, because the US doesn't have the money. This made the Congress mad, so they decided to threaten the elderly and sick on Medicare until they get their pay raise. Now, I'm sure that you all won't agree with me that the sick and elderly should receive assistance because paying our Congress is so much more important, but you should realize that the 1.1% raises for Disabled Veterans and Active Duty Military have already been distributed. It's all a shell game.

[CBSknows]

"AMERI-CAN-DO"

WE CAN AND WE MUST DO..

Combine a few letters from the words REPUBLICAN DEMOCRAT and they Could Spell..AMERI-CAN-DO & ABSOLUTELY ABSOLUTELY ABSOLUTELY SHOULD..SPELL..AMERI-CAN-DO

NEITHER OF THESE WORDS (REPUBLICAN,DEMOCRAT) SPELLED SEPARATELY CAN SPELL.. "AMERI-CAN-DO" It Takes Both To Spell AMERI-CAN-DO and it will take BOTH PARTIES TO BUILD A BETTER FUTURE FOR ALL OF AMERICA'S CHILDREN & THEIR CHILDREN.

"UNITED WE STAND" and "TEAM WORK WORKS"
(these statements aren't just words they are facts)

Mr. Obama Is NOT just the Democrats President he is "THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES" ALL STATES & ALL PARTIES PRESIDENT.. MR. OBAMA.. IS AMERICA'S LEADER YOUR LEADER/OUR LEADER, HE WAS ELECTED BY AMERICA TO LEAD OUR NATION. "SO LET HIM LEAD"

"THIS IS WHY "WE THE PEOPLE PUT HIM IN OFFICE".. WORK WITH HIM "WHATEVER IT TAKES" COMPROMISE WITH THE PRESIDENT & WORK WITH HIM..THIS IS YOUR JOB.

IT CERTAINLY ISN'T PRODUCTIVE FOR ANY PARTY TO HURT AMERICAN'S BY NOT WORKING WITH AMERICA'S LEADER THAT;
"WE THE PEOPLE" ELECTED TO BE OUR PRESIDENT.

"TIME TO TEAM UP FOR THE GOOD OF OUR COUNTRY"

[quantum_analysis]

DARKHORSEKY says: "Ill be glade when this is over. Then what after the fairy tale rob from the rich to give to the poor. What next?"

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Certainly appears that our tax dollars are doing an exceptionally poor job in educating those in the RED welfare states, since they can't read and write very well, but can parrot the latest agitation propaganda for the top 1%.

I'm willing to bet you don't even have a pot to pizz in, make far-less than even the average American, and yet continue to shill to the ultra-wealthy that continue to get an ever-larger piece of the pie as income inequality is approaching that of the third world in the USA!

[quantum_analysis]

Besides, Our Constitution clearly provides for taxation to pay our debts, and has absolutely nothing to do with "stealing" or "robbing".


Majority of Wealthy Support Taxing Themselves

American Express Publishing and The Harrison Group found that 67 percent of the top one percent of American earners support higher income taxes.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100335218/Majority_of_Wealthy_Support_Taxing_Themselves_Poll

[TimeToEvolve]

The Republicons are in charge of the House that comes up with the budget. But if they are going to continue their ridiculous no taxes on the rich so you and I pay more is just not acceptable.

And most of those Republicons were in Congress when the Bush Cheney Crime Family spent us into oblivion so they could blame the next President.

If you screwed up the budget and now everyone knows and blames you Republicons "Blame Yo'self"- Herman Cain, 2012

[darkhorseky]

Ill be glade when this is over. Then what after the fairy tale rob from the rich to give to the poor. What next? The invisable climbing debt? How meny trillions was that agian? What a credit card limit. Endless.

[quantum_analysis]

UNLUCKY_7-11 says: "What are the parameters of the discussion?...Republicans will not raise taxes."

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Seems to be a completely ridiculous point, considering that taxes on everyone will be raised on Jan. 1, 2013 -- no matter how much you whine and screech!

The reality is bush's tax cuts didn't trigger substantial economic growth; bush had the lowest job-creation rate of any president since his father.

What dubya's cuts did accomplish, though, was to create the widest disparity between wealthy Americans and their middle- and working-class counterparts in three decades. And the top 1 percent of Americans, people who earn more than $348,000 each year, ended up with its largest share of income since 1928.

The bottom line: bush's cuts shifted the overall tax burden from the rich to the middle class, and Obama is trying to reverse the shift in the tax burden to its more traditional makeup.

[Think4times]

To those who comment on here and claim they know best how to solve our fiscal problems:

Why aren't you running for office?

[Think4times]

Interesting response..

If I were to ask you how old you are, would you answer "green" ?

[honestpatriot]

An interesting question, THINK4. But our political system does not reward political honesty and integrity. To win office, it is necessary to place sloganeering, spin, and attacking the integrity of one's opponent above honest discussion of policy solutions. And it takes gobs of money that most of us do not have, and would not care to try to raise by selling our values to the highest bidder.

[CBSknows]

"AMERI CAN DO SO COMPROMISE"

By using Letters From BOTH Of These Names; REPUBLICANS, DEMOCRATS

It Spells Out The Solution, But It Takes Letters From Both Names To Spell;

"AMERI CAN DO SO COMPROMISE"

"PAST TIME TO COMPROMISE FOR THE GOOD OF AMERICA

[quantum_analysis]

Lonely_Ranger says: "Hey QA - You calim to know EVERYTHING -- answer this one for me....Why did the Social Security Administration ammo purchase of 174,000 rounds??... But that's just a tiny drop in the bucket compared to the 1.4 billion rounds of ammo so far acquired by the Department of Homeland Security."

---------------------


Sorry bubba, but I never claimed to know everything -- just more than you people that get your agitation propaganda from right-wing pundits and spew the usual "dittohead speak," because I know how to research for the FACTS!


FACT is, the ammunition to be purchased by the SSA indicated that it was for "duty carry" purposes and was being procured for Field Division locations of the Office of Investigations (OI), part of the SSA's Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The OI "conducts and coordinates investigative activity related to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement in Social Security Administration programs and operations" and "conducts joint investigations with other Federal, State and local law enforcement agencies."

The OIG's office of External Relations posted a notice that the reason behind the ammunition procurement was to supply the nearly 300 special agents who work for the OIG and are armed while on duty.

http://oig.ssa.gov/newsroom/blog/2012/08/social-securitys-oig-responds-concerns-over-ammunition-procurement

-----------------------

Try sticking with the FACTS that are easily found today with simple searches and research on the internet, instead of buying into the far-right conspiracy theories that you conservative republicans swallow daily! LOL!

[quantum_analysis]

As far as the DHS ammunition buying goes, maybe you can believe one of your georgia representatives, lynn westmoreland, 3rd district, and how buying ammunition in bulk is saving taxpayers money:


DHS Buys in Bulk to Save You Money

http://westmoreland.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=642&Itemid=372

[quantum_analysis]

I hope that clears up a couple of your far-right, conservative conspiracy theories, long ago debunked, but obviously, the far-right extremists like to re-cycle garbage like that over and over again, just for the usual agitation propaganda!