'Fiscal cliff' deal emerging

[Nova78]

AP Sources: 'Fiscal cliff' deal emerging | General Headlines | Comcast

The contours of a deal to avert the `fiscal cliff' emerged Monday, with Democrats and Republicans agreeing to raise tax rates on family income over $450,000 a year, increase the estate tax rate and extend unemployment benefits for one year, officials familiar with the negotiations said.

But with a midnight deadline rapidly approaching, both sides were at an impasse over whether to put off automatic, across-the-board spending cuts set to take effect on Jan. 1, and if so, how to pay for that. Democrats want to put off the cuts for one year and offset the so-called sequester with unspecified revenue.

Officials emphasized that negotiations were continuing and the emerging deal was not yet final. President Barack Obama was to speak about the status of the negotiations from the White House Monday afternoon.

Finally Obama and Boehner tire of playing with there dicks........

 

[SniperFire]

I would like to hear what the Tea Party House vote - the deciders - thinks about it.

 

[PredFan]

Damn Boehner caved already? I knew it would happen but not so soon.

 

[Rat in the Hat]

Damn Boehner caved already? I knew it would happen but not so soon.

The article only talks about what is happening in the Senate. I haven't seen anything about the House talks.

 

[waltky]

Granny says it's just a patch - dey kickin' the can down the road - again...

House won't vote before midnight on 'cliff' deal
31 Dec.`12 WASHINGTON (AP) — The House will miss the midnight Monday deadline lawmakers set for voting to avoid the "fiscal cliff."

House Republicans notified lawmakers that the chamber will vote Monday evening on other bills. They say that will be their only votes of the day.

President Barack Obama and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Monday they are near a deal to avoid wide-ranging tax increases and spending cuts — the fiscal cliff — that take effect with the new year.

Both men said they were still bargaining over whether — and how — to avoid $109 billion in cuts to defense and domestic programs that take effect on Wednesday.

It remained unclear whether the Senate would vote Monday. Congress could pass later legislation retroactively blocking the tax hikes and spending cuts.

House won't vote before midnight on 'cliff' deal - Yahoo! News

See also:

The fiscal cliff is nigh; Senators strike deal, House won't vote
Mon December 31, 2012 - Senate leaders cut a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff
Biden pitches the plan to Democrats late Monday; Obama says more work will be needed and chides Congress for dragging its feet; "Take the 84% of your winnings off the table," anti-tax crusader advises GOP

Senate leaders and the White House struck a last-minute deal to avert the feared fiscal cliff Monday night, with Vice President Joe Biden headed to the Capitol Hill to pitch the plan to fellow Democrats. "Happy New Year," Biden, who became the Democratic point man in the talks, told reporters. "Did you think we would be here New Year's Eve?" A senior Democratic aide told CNN that if caucus meetings went well, a Senate vote could come "within the hour." But the House of Representatives went home long before midnight, meaning nothing will get through Congress before the combination of tax increases and spending cuts lawmakers have been scrambling to head off starts to kick in, at least on paper.

A source familiar with the deal told CNN that the Senate proposal would put off the cuts for two months and keep the expiring Bush-era tax cuts for individuals earning less than $400,000 or couples earning less than $450,000. President Barack Obama has long demanded that the threshold be set at $250,000. Tax rates on income above those levels would go back to the Clinton-era rate of 39.6%, up from the current 35%, and itemized deductions would be capped at $250,000 for individuals and $300,000 for couples. That would generate an estimated $600 billion in additional revenue over 10 years. Taxes on inherited estates will go up to 40% from 35%, but the exemption will be indexed to rise with inflation -- a provision the source said was added at the insistence of moderate Democrats.

Unemployment insurance would be extended for a year for for 2 million people, and the alternative minimum tax -- a perennial issue -- would be permanently adjusted for inflation. Child care, tuition and research and development tax credits would be renewed. And the "Doc Fix" -- reimbursements for doctors who take Medicare patients -- will continue, but it won't be paid for out of the Obama administration's signature health care law. Biden had been in negotiations with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, since Sunday afternoon. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, both Democrats, agreed to the plan in calls with President Barack Obama, a Democratic source said Monday night.

In the House, GOP sources said earlier Monday that there's little practical difference in settling the issue Monday night versus Tuesday. But if tax-averse House Republicans approve the bill on Tuesday -- when taxes have technically gone up -- they can argue they've voted for a tax cut to bring rates back down, even after just a few hours, GOP sources said. That could bring some more Republicans on board, one source said. Economists warn the one-two punch of tax increases and spending cuts, known as "sequestration," could push the U.S. economy back into recession and drive unemployment back over 9% by the end of 2013. Obama had chided lawmakers for their last-minute scramble earlier Monday, hitting a nerve among several Republicans in the Senate.

More The fiscal cliff is nigh; Senators strike deal, House won't vote - CNN.com

 

[Toro]

I would like to hear what the Tea Party House vote - the deciders - thinks about it.

That's what I'm wondering.

But it was approved 89-8 in the Senate.

 

[MeBelle]

Senate approves deal to avert fiscal cliff - First Read

Updated at 2:15 a.m. ET -- An agreement in principle to avert broad tax increases and spending cuts passed in the Senate early Tuesday morning, with an overwhelming vote of 89-8