WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Obama is set to host a meeting Friday of bipartisan leaders of the House and Senate at the Oval Office. Vice President Joe Biden will also attend.
House Republicans said recently that “We believe that in order to avert the coming fiscal cliff, a balanced approach is necessary. The president, however, does not seem to agree. Even though the negotiations with the White House continue, Republicans are ready to ensure that taxes will not go up on any Americans making one million dollars a year or less.”
Senate majority leader Harry Reid fired back this week, saying that “House Republicans pushed middle class families closer to the cliff by wasting an entire week with their incompetent ‘Plan B’ stunt. It is time for House Republicans to put middle class families first by passing the Senate’s bill to protect 98 percent of Americans from a tax hike on January 1. The Senate bill could pass tomorrow if House Republicans would simply let it come to the floor.
“The Senate has already rejected House Republicans’ Tea Party bills, and no further legislation can move through the Senate until Republicans drop their knee-jerk obstruction. Right now, the Senate bill is the only bill that can become law, and House Republicans owe it to middle class families to let it pass with Democratic and Republican votes.”
If Congress and the President cannot agree on a compromise on the impending so-called “fiscal cliff,” Bush era tax cuts will expire and taxes will go up significantly for many Americans.
Congress was also warned this week that the Treasury Department would have to take “extraordinary measures” to avoid a default on the country’s debt as it is set to reach its $16.4 debt ceiling on December 31st.
