So, a deal has been reached in the Senate and will most likely pass. There are no guarantees it will pass the house, but if the Senate passes a deal it will put pressure on them to vote for it. I guess the question is over how many (if any) Democrats refuse to vote for it & how many votes Boehner can round up to get it over the line.
Lets hope this gets done.
Read more: Fiscal cliff deal reached - POLITICO.com
Lets hope this gets done.
The White House and Senate leaders reached a bipartisan compromise on the fiscal cliff that would allow tax rates to rise on income over $450,000 and delay steep automatic federal spending cuts for two months.
The Senate was poised to vote on the package some time after the clock turned to 2013 on New Year’s morning, and the House could vote later in the day on Jan. 1.
The final deal was hammered out between Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Vice President Joe Biden, after nearly two months of talks between other leaders failed. President Barack Obama called Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Monday night, and a Democratic source said both leaders signed off on the package.
But there were indications that might have slightly overstated the case: A Senate Democratic aide insisted that Reid simply offered to give Biden a chance to sell Senate Democrats on the accord, as the vice president did at a 90-minute meeting at the Capitol. And Pelosi, in a statement issued shortly after 10 p.m., did not endorse or criticize the pact: the California Democrat said she was waiting for the Senate to act and then would present it to House Democrats to gauge their reaction.
Criticism came from all quarters, though it was unclear whether it represented a serious threat to the accord’s prospects in Congress or the kind of complaints that were bound to precede such a difficult vote. Moderate Senate Democrats like Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said the deal “kicked the can down the road” by failing to include entitlement reform. Liberals such as Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) complained that Obama and Biden gave away too much on taxes.
There was also a tactical divide between Senate Democrats and the White House. Many Hill Democrats believed they would get a much better deal if they waited until the new year and the country went over the fiscal cliff, but Obama did not want to risk blame for potentially pushing the United States back into a recession.
Biden was enlisted to help sell the package to a skeptical caucus. Still, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said while Democrats have reservations, most agreed the deal is better than going over the cliff. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) called the mood in the caucus “somber.”
Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said he’s “not happy but it’s preventing an increase of tax rates for middle income Americans, and that’s very good.”
Leaving the caucus meeting, Biden said he felt “very good” about the deal’s chances, warning reporters not to predict how the House or Senate would vote.
In a statement, House Speaker John Boehner promised to consider the Senate bill, but would not say whether the chamber would try to amend or simply accept it. He said that decision would be made after members have a chance to review the legislation.
The final sticking point was over delaying the across-the-board spending cuts slated to begin Jan. 2 known as the sequester. Those cuts will be replaced in equal parts by fresh government revenues and other targeted spending reductions.
A Senate vote on the package was expected early Tuesday morning. House sources have said they almost certainly will have to wait until later Tuesday to vote.
The Senate was poised to vote on the package some time after the clock turned to 2013 on New Year’s morning, and the House could vote later in the day on Jan. 1.
The final deal was hammered out between Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Vice President Joe Biden, after nearly two months of talks between other leaders failed. President Barack Obama called Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Monday night, and a Democratic source said both leaders signed off on the package.
But there were indications that might have slightly overstated the case: A Senate Democratic aide insisted that Reid simply offered to give Biden a chance to sell Senate Democrats on the accord, as the vice president did at a 90-minute meeting at the Capitol. And Pelosi, in a statement issued shortly after 10 p.m., did not endorse or criticize the pact: the California Democrat said she was waiting for the Senate to act and then would present it to House Democrats to gauge their reaction.
Criticism came from all quarters, though it was unclear whether it represented a serious threat to the accord’s prospects in Congress or the kind of complaints that were bound to precede such a difficult vote. Moderate Senate Democrats like Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said the deal “kicked the can down the road” by failing to include entitlement reform. Liberals such as Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) complained that Obama and Biden gave away too much on taxes.
There was also a tactical divide between Senate Democrats and the White House. Many Hill Democrats believed they would get a much better deal if they waited until the new year and the country went over the fiscal cliff, but Obama did not want to risk blame for potentially pushing the United States back into a recession.
Biden was enlisted to help sell the package to a skeptical caucus. Still, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said while Democrats have reservations, most agreed the deal is better than going over the cliff. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) called the mood in the caucus “somber.”
Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said he’s “not happy but it’s preventing an increase of tax rates for middle income Americans, and that’s very good.”
Leaving the caucus meeting, Biden said he felt “very good” about the deal’s chances, warning reporters not to predict how the House or Senate would vote.
In a statement, House Speaker John Boehner promised to consider the Senate bill, but would not say whether the chamber would try to amend or simply accept it. He said that decision would be made after members have a chance to review the legislation.
The final sticking point was over delaying the across-the-board spending cuts slated to begin Jan. 2 known as the sequester. Those cuts will be replaced in equal parts by fresh government revenues and other targeted spending reductions.
A Senate vote on the package was expected early Tuesday morning. House sources have said they almost certainly will have to wait until later Tuesday to vote.
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