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Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

Fiscal Cliff Deadline Prompts GOP To Push 'Plan B'

Paige Brettingen |
December 20, 2012 | 12:10 p.m. PST

Executive Producer

House Speaker John Boehner (Creative Commons/ Medill DC)
House Speaker John Boehner (Creative Commons/ Medill DC)

The Republican-dominated House plans to push forward with the "Plan B" bill that will raise taxes on individuals earning over $1 million to avoid the "fiscal cliff" come January 2013.

However, Democratic leaders have said they won't let it get through the Senate.

According to The Washington Post:
Republicans have told senior administration officials that [House Speaker] Boehner decided to put forward his Plan B after he concluded he could not get enough GOP support for the proposal he made to Obama over the weekend, according to a senior administration official.

If a solution isn't reached by the end of the year, the result would involve tax hikes and spending cuts. According to Neon Tommy, "under current law, the 36 percent top tax rate is scheduled to expire on January 1, and would automatically go to 39.6 percent. Boehner's proposal would allow that rate to rise as scheduled at a threshold of $1 million - putting it back to where it was during the Clinton administration."

The GOP has also suggested raising the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67. Fiscal Cliff talks began shortly after President Obama was re-elected in early November and have been showing little progress since.

 

READ MORE: Boehner Offers Higher Taxes On Millionaires To Avoid Fiscal Cliff

The Washington Post reported that Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell blamed the president and Democrats for the lack of concrete solutions:

“They’ve been playing Lucy and the football with the American people for months,” said the Kentucky lawmaker. “They’ve said no to every single proposal that’s been offered to avoid this tax hike — including their own. They’re running out the clock. Moving the goal posts. Sitting on their hands. They aren’t doing anything. Well, I say, ‘Enough.’ Enough. The time for games is over,” he said in remarks on the Senate floor.

 

Find more Neon Tommy coverage on the fiscal cliff here.

Reach Executive Producer Paige Brettingen here. Follow her here.



 

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