US News

A nation of ‘cliff’ dwellers

WASHINGTON — The edge of the fiscal cliff is in sight, but the White House and Congress are no closer to a deal to stop America from taking the plunge.

Negotiations resume as early as today, with the Democratic-run US Senate spearheading President Obama’s last-ditch offer for a bargain that still raises taxes on family incomes more than $250,000.

Talks involving Obama and congressional leaders were on hold over the long holiday weekend. Senate Democrats haven’t even begun to put Obama’s proposal into legislation for a vote needed before the New Year’s Day deadline — now just six days away.

“Time is running out and Senate Democrats still haven’t laid out their plan to prevent us from going over the cliff,” said a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

Obama is due to return from his Christmas vacation in Hawaii late today. The House and Senate return tomorrow.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) isn’t expected to move a bill until Republicans guarantee enough votes to pass it.

That’s a tall order. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) couldn’t muster party support for his own plan, which raised taxes only on millionaires.

Without a deal, almost everyone in the country will get hit Tuesday with massive tax hikes, and deep federal spending cuts, mostly to the military, will go into effect.

Conservative leaders have speculated that Obama is not averse to going off the fiscal cliff because he’d get the tax hikes he has championed for years.

If the Bush-era tax cuts expire Tuesday, legislation to restore them for at least the middle class would pass easily.

“We may go off the cliff on January 1, but we would correct that very quickly thereafter,” Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) promised on MSNBC.

Obama and Congress created the fiscal cliff in 2011 in order raise the stakes and force themselves to forge a budget agreement to curb America’s $16 trillion debt.

Obama’s newest proposal barely dents the debt and puts off tough choices on Medicare and Medicaid.

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