Boehner Scrambling for Votes on 'Plan B'

It's still on for tomorrow, as fiscal cliff rhetoric worsens
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 19, 2012 6:22 PM CST
Boehner Scrambling for Votes on 'Plan B'
House Speaker John Boehner addresses reporters on the fiscal cliff negotiations Wednesday.   (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

John Boehner will forge ahead with a vote on his "Plan B" legislation tomorrow, though it's unclear this evening whether he's got the votes to pass it, reports the Hill. Boehner is looking for a symbolic win against President Obama in the fiscal cliff talks, but he can't rely on full support from his own party. Conservative groups oppose Plan B because it backs a tax increase, albeit one that hits only millionaires. House Republicans were working into the night to shore up GOP support and might add spending cuts to offset the tax increase, reports CNN.

As for the status of the overall negotiations, the Guardian sums up the day's events by saying they've "collapsed into a war of words."

  • Obama: "Take the deal," he said this afternoon. “Frankly, up until a couple days ago if you looked at it, the Republicans in the House and Speaker Boehner were in a position to say, ‘We’ve gotten a fair deal.’ The fact that they haven’t taken it yet is puzzling." Obama also cited Hurricane Sandy and the Newtown shootings and said Americans deserve a compromise for the "greater good," reports the New York Times.
  • Boehner: He responded by taking to the podium for less than a minute, reports the Washington Post. Obama's offer "fails to meet the test the president promised to the American people—a balanced approach,” he said. Then, referring to Plan B, he added: "The president will have a decision to make: He can call on Senate Democrats to pass that bill or he can be responsible for the largest tax increase in history.”
(More fiscal cliff stories.)

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