Boehner: 'I Did My Part'

CNS News.com ^ | December 20, 2012 | Elizabeth Harrington

[Hojczyk]

Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) said 'I did my part’ in negotiations with President Barack Obama to avert the fiscal cliff by offering a proposal to raise taxes on millionaires.

Just hours before the House plans to vote on the Speaker’s “Plan B,” which will raise the marginal tax rate for people earning $1 million or more per year to 39.6 percent, Boehner said Republicans have done “everything we can” to avoid the fiscal cliff.

The fiscal cliff refers to the expiration of the Bush tax rates and the start of automatic spending cuts (sequestration) on Jan. 2, unless Congress and the White House act. The tax issues also include the child tax deduction; the end of the 10 percent bracket; and the Alternative Minimum Tax.

“President Obama and Senate Democrats haven’t done much of anything,” Boehner said during a Capitol Hill press conference today. “Their Plan B is to slow walk us over the fiscal cliff.”

“For weeks the White House has said that if I moved on rates, that they would make substantial concessions on spending cuts and entitlement reform,” Boehner said.

“I did my part,” he said. “They’ve done nothing.”

“The president’s last offer of $1.3 trillion in new revenue [taxes] with only $850 billion worth of spending reductions fails to meet the test of ‘balanced’ that he continues to call for.”

“Frankly,” Boehner continued, “I’m convinced that the president is unwilling to stand up to his own party on the big issues that face our country. Time is running short.”

“The House will act today and it’ll be up to the Senate Democrats and the White House to act,” he said.

[babble-on]

The Senate is coming back on the 27th on the expectation that there is a deal by then that does not destroy the US economy. I hope they’re right.

[Marcella]

Reid has already said he wouldn’t being this bill up. Unless Hussein changes his mind and tells Reid to bring it up, it’s dead.

[mtnwmn]

I’m not saying that the media won’t blame the GOP but it will be difficult for them to do it with a straight face.

[fwdude]

Of course he’ll finally cave. That’s “his part” ultimately - caving.

[DoughtyOne]

I think he should change his name to Donner in light of his record as Speaker of the House. In fact, they could change the name of the Republican Party to the Donner Party.

[EQAndyBuzz]

“The Senate will do nothing and the President will blame the “Congress” which the media will blame the Republicans in the House.”

Republicans get the blame anyway. Now would be a good time to run ads blaming the Democrats and the media for why everyone’s taxes are going up Jan 1.

I would go so far as to informercial it.

[babble-on]

Is that supposed to be secret info he’s revealing?? It’s a roll call vote, I think we’ll know which members are in favor of huge tax increases quite well, they’ll be the ones who vote against the bill.

[tennmountainman]

It is you who is very short-sighted.
The same law that enacted these tax increases, can be changed
as well.
It is a meaningless vote that will not serve the GOP members.
It has no chance of passing. And because Bonehead has been so
out front working a deal with him self, he HAS BECOME the face of
this cliff. He and the GOP will get the blame regardless of what happens.

[ez]

Then let Reid pass his own bill and send it to Congress. When will Garry Reid get off his a$$?

[forgotten man]

The stock market is up again today. Maybe going over the cliff is not such a bad thing. I am not an expert and I don’t know why the market goes up or down. I keep hearing experts say that if we go over the cliff the stock market will crater, but that is not happening.

[ez]

Then let Reid pass his own bill and send it to committee. When will Garry Reid get off his a$$?

[sickoflibs]

RE :”I called and wrote my congressman today to tell him not to vote for raising taxes.
The better course is to let Obama own it.”

I called up Rep. Louie Gohmert (TX-01) s office today and left him a message :

Stop saying that you ‘believe’ that this B bill raises taxes (on Cavuto yesterday) because you must know that is NOT true.

I told him to look up the history of those taxes cuts 2010 and 2003 and see that they expire without the B bill, the B bill extends most of them including mine and everyone I know.

[sickoflibs]

I hate the Term ‘cliff’ in this context but we are stuck with it now.

[WashingtonSource]

The media is not going to be able to blame the GOP this time. Boehner has repeatedly come out with offers and go on the offensive as someone tryingi to avoid the cliff. The President has been impudent and slow to react after first making outrageous demands. Polls are already showing the public blaming Democrats almost as much as the GOP. That’s a huge public relations victory. In the past it would hae been 95% GOP’s blame.

[henkster]

“The Republicans are going to lose the public relations battle over this.”

Absolutely. It does not matter what the GOP does. The communist run propaganda organs of the democrat party dropped all semblance of objectivity. They smell blood. They are going after the GOP.

“It is high time to SMASH the GOP and send it to the ash heap of history.”

This quote could have just as easily come from 0bama’s purple lips.

[Hoodat]

Better hold one cause that’s exactly where we’re going.

The only 'cliff' here is the one government will be driving off of when someone finally tells them they can't print up any more money. I look forward to the day when this finally happens. Unfortunately, I believe that Boehner will cave by passing another debt ceiling increase. The rest is meaningless to Obama. He really doesn't care where tax rates are as long as he can continue with his wealth-redistribution-via-inflation scam.

[EricT.]

If you're going to pass a bill that will be ignored or rejected by the other side, you should at least pass something that would be a meaningful solution to the problem instead of playing political games.

This just proves that NOBODY in Washington, D.C. is serious about our looming fiscal collapse.

May God have mercy on us all.

[tennmountainman]

It’s a roll call vote, I think we’ll know which members are in favor of huge tax increases quite well, they’ll be the ones who vote against the bill.

Which I think is the real purpose of this vote. Bonehead and Cantor want to know who’s in and who is not, in preperation
for the Grandest of all Bargains that is coming down the pike.
This is nothing more than a loyality test for the DC Party.
When the Grandest of all Bargains comes, and it will, Bonehead
will know how many RAT votes he will need by how his members
vote tonight.

[Perkalong]

“I think he should change his name to Donner in light of his record as Speaker of the House. In fact, they could change the name of the Republican Party to the Donner Party.”

YES!!!

[Joe 6-pack]

"Why is this reported as a tax raise on those earning $1mm or more in 2013? Those people are going to be taxed at 39.6% if no bill is passed. And a lot more people will be taxed at that rate too if no bill is passed."

The current reportage is simply to lay the ground work for the follow-on reporting. After Obama dna Reid stonewall and do nothing and everybody's taxes go up, the media will attribute it to Boehner's "forcing through a bill" and "refusal to compromise," and it will be the Republican's fault.

Boehner and the GOP have owned the House since we the people gave it back to them in 2010. He should have passed a complete continuation of the Bush tax rates on 11/7, and beat that drum every day thereafter. Reid would have had to stall a senate vote on it or Obama would have been forced to veto it.

The ball could have been in Obama's court months ago.