House Republicans Oppose Fiscal Cliff Deal

Growing concerns may mean no vote today, imperiling the deal

Republicans in the House are expressing strong opposition to the Senate fiscal cliff bill, increasing the likelihood of the bill being amended and sent back to the Senate.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats said they would reject any House effort to change the terms, The Hill reported.

If the House doesn't approve the deal, it could have enormous consequences when financial markets reopen tomorrow, beginning with Asian stock exchanges this evening. If the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts are not averted by Jan. 3, when a new Congress is sworn in, the legislative process would have to start over again.

Rep. Eric Cantor, the No. 2 House Republican, told reporters as he was leaving a GOP conference meeting that he could not support the bill.

A lack of spending cuts in the Senate bill "was a universal concern amongst members in today's meeting," said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner. An analysis released today by the Congressional Budget Office said the deal would add $4 trillion to the deficit over a decade. Many lawmakers also oppose the Senate plan's two-month delay before automatic spending cuts are dealt with, Politico reported.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other high-ranking Democrats held a press conference Tuesday afternoon urging Boehner to keep his promise to hold a vote on whatever the Senate worked out. "Speaker Boehner said he would hold a vote," Pelosi said. "That is what the American people deserve. We look forward to seeing it."

Via Politico, The Hill, and Politix

How should the House handle the Senate fiscal cliff bill?

[justapirate]

Is there anyone at all that's surprised the Pubs are gonna drag their feet again. Anyone at all?

[woodtick57]

Howisaskingfor the spending cuts we all know we need "dragging their feet"?

[RobertJHarsh]

I am not surprised...I am GLAD. I will accept tax increases if the spending cuts happen. We ALL know that Comrade Soetoro has zero interest in cuts and wants the tax increases in order to carry out his revenge plans for the country. We'll deal with cuts later? Seriously? He'll never push for any cuts and will just want more tax increases when his spending spree needs another injection of cash.

[justapirate]

If the roof is leaking, do you climb up there and patch it or do you wait and figure out how to pay for a new roof? They got a bill with what they agree on. Pass the damn thing. The fight is going to go on about all the rest but at least the leak isn't going to take out the ceiling.

[NormalFlora]

The time for political posturing is OVER!!! Pass the damn bill!!!

[PNWest]

The best thing that can happen for the democrats is for the GOP to either vote the Senate bill down or kill it by amending it at this late date. The stock market will crater short term and the American public will rightfully blame Boehner and the tea baggers. If this happens the dems will be in a much stronger position because the tax rates for the rich will go up due to the inaction.

The best thing for the country would be for the GOP to pass the bill. I'll be surprised if they do because they would rather play up to their base than solve the county's problems. Party before country again.

[get_involved]

The Republicans gave in on raising taxes on the rich but the Democrats won't make necessary cuts in the budget. The Democrats never met a tax they didn't like. I hope the House rejects the Senate bill.

Join the FAIR fight for American jobs: http://www.fairus.org/site/PageNavigator/FAIR...

[Sonny]

The dems HAVE agreed to spending cuts...But it would be irresponsible to have them start immediately...The economy would plunge into an immediate Depression.....It would be nice, if those house republicans would learn something about basic "macro-economics" for a change...instead of just clinging to some ridiculous "party line"...

[Jim49418]

@Sonny Yes, the dem's agreed to $15 billion in spending cuts, at the cost of $680 billion in tax increases.

[Sonny]

@Jim49418 Over the "next 10 years".....You do the math.

[Jim49418]

@Sonny I think Math might be over your head!
You do the MATH!

[Sonny]

@Jim49418 Fair enough...Because economics is clearly over your's.

[UBU]

Reject the ridiculus bill and finish your damn job. No more kicking the can.

[Sonny]

He is trying to "finish his damn job"---That's WHY he needs those irresponsible republicans in the house to get off of their damn butts and DO Something....THEY are the ones "kicking the damn can"....with their lack of action on this bill!

[JenniferMarie]

Republicans will offer an amended bill that won't pass because it doesn't include enough reduction in spending and because it includes an increase in taxes.

The Republicans voting for the amendment will then say that while they wanted spending cuts the good of the Country requires them to very reluctantly vote for the Senate Bill.

The Senate Bill passes with all the anti-tax Republicans voting against.

[1adam2]

without an sever spending cuts, it is still the same disaster as before. the american people, deserve better than irresponsible spending. should make do with what you have, not with what you don't have.

[Sonny]

See its statements like this---That make me realize that most right wingers here just don't know the difference between "micro-economics" and "macro-economics"... They really need to clearly understand the dynamics of what is going on here---Instead of trying to compare the condition and economic responsibilities of the US Government to that of their own personal individual households...I can clearly see that most of them just don't seem to know the difference.

[MongoAPillager]

@Sonny clearly nobody understands economics as both (parties)have been in control from time to time,,HHHmmm maybe i'm wrong?maybe they do understand perfectly well, Keynesian experiments not withstanding ;+}

[1adam2]

@Sonny i am certain that either most people don't understand, or just really do not care. since most have the allusion, that the government can take care of all of their troubles and worries.

[Sonny]

@1adam2 And that's all just a "smoke screen"----for people, much like you, to never learn the way that government is supposed to work. After all its a whole lot easier to just sit back and repeat something that one has heard from someone else---instead of taking the necessary time to learn something new....Just another smoke screen and excuse from those on the right to just spout more "talking points" and never learn anything.

[Sonny]

@MongoAPillager Then they (and the public) need to learn.

[Sonny]

Ok, now when things go crashing down this "fiscal cliff" Let make sure that we remember what party is directly responsible for it...The republican party has, once again, proven to the American People that they are completely irresponsible, combative amateurs when it comes to governing this country----Specific names such as "Eric Cantor" & "John Boehner" need to be etched into the minds of voters for the next couple of years.....The word "tea-party" needs to be remembered as well...And, now, just maybe the "real republican party" will stand up and re-claim their party back from the extremist. Enough is enough...!

[1adam2]

sorry but your, prejudice lies do not cut the mustard. it took both parties, and their foolish spending habits for the past 60 + years. to get us all, into this mess. and we the apathetic people, have allowed them to get away with it. and now you want to errantly blame, the republican party, for finally taking a stand against irresponsible expenditure. i know what the real, republican party used to be. since i used to be, a republican party committee member. but i quit the party, when i saw where they were headed. and now have, no party affiliation whatsoever. the republican party for the past thirty years, has looked more like fascist democrats. and the democrats, look more like socialist communism.

[Sonny]

@1adam2 I rest my case.

[1adam2]

@Sonny you rest you case, when you have not even proven your case?

[Sonny]

@1adam2 Didn't have to---YOU did it for me...And I thank you very much.

[1adam2]

@Sonny oh yeah! like innuendo's, ever prove anything. and does not even reveal what it is like, in that fantasy mental world of your's.

[formerrepub]

Vote no, take it over the cliff, the sooner the better!!!!

[Vance1]

reject it, since it doesnt have spending cuts

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

My mother grew up poor. Most of the time the clothes she wore were barely better than some tattered rags. Still, my grandpa and grandma didn't suggest that the solution was for the government to rob wealthier people blind so that their children could have clothes. My mother worked hard, sometimes 2 and 3 jobs, but she was determined. When my mother met my dad things got no easier, as they had 3 kids. Still, they did not believe in theft, they worked hard.

I guess that is where I got my work ethic from. I was taught very young that if I don't work, I don't eat. I had my first job when I was ten. It was just sweeping outside a local shop and keeping the parking lot clean after school, but it paid for candy and toys and allowed me to save money too. It was inconceivable back then to cry "I'm poor, oh poor me, give me your money" like it is now. Then if you were poor you worked harder and you got ahead. Today if you're poor obama will play Robin Hood and steal all the money from the "evil" rich people and just give it to you and not even expect you to do one minute's worth of work in return.

I agree with you Vance, this sick demented bill that came from the Senate should be sent back with a big (watch your mouth) attached to it. It is time for the federal overspending to cease completely. I'm used to making due with less, I was raised in the real world. I don't live lavish, I work and take care of what is important. The lazy welfare recipients of this country need to find a new revenue source for their gold chains,$200 sneakers, and fancy rides with goofy rims on them.

[classychazy]

@Neo_NtheMatrix. I have to agree with everything you just posted. Hell must have froze over..lol

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

@classychazy - You'll find that I'm a very reasonable, agreeable person. Not surprise there.

[martydotcom]

@Neo_NtheMatrix Neo. back when Grand Pa and Grand Ma were struggling, why would they ask the wealthy to pay more? the tax rate on millionaires was 90 %. We all know Mitt. paid 14%. Most likely his undisclosed tax returns would have disclosed zero federal tax obligation.
Back when you were learning your work ethic we did not have all the special Corporate tax write offs, depreciation allowances, etc. You know the ones that allowed GE to pay no ZERO income tax at all. Corporations used to pay their fair share,
Don't you get it... YOU and your TEA PARTy crew of cliff divers are playing Reverse Robin Hood. Your tax cuts for the wealthy and corp give backs take money from middle income tax paying Americans. Your 80 hr work weeks are paying the tax share formerly paid by corporations; you're paying the tax share the wealthy formerly paid. I'm sure they appreciate your hard work , Think who benefits more, from write offs The Tea party supporting Koch's or you??

http://taxfoundation.org/sites/taxfoundation....

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

@martydotcom - Can we compare federal spending from then to what it is now? Seems like you make a lot of excuses. Let's go back to the federal budget of 1960 and then we can talk.

[justapirate]

When the bill came out of the Senate it was something both parties agreed on. Yeah, a lot was kicked down the road but what came out was mutual. Of course the House can't pass something their own parties thought was good. Why pass something they can agree on. Dysfunctional bunch of morons.

[Speedieg]

The problem is the bill was negotiated up front and Republicans agreed to pass it, now they are back pedaling. They never ever do what they agree to.

[Souljah]

Wow.. Our Tax dollars hard at work

[jessejaymes]

If the House rejects this bill and over the cliff we go, it won't be the end of the world. But it will be the end of the GOP as we know it. Those jackasses have had months, no a year to decide what to do about a bad bill they themselves wrote and passed. Let's not forget that the fiscal cliff bill was a bill written and passed by this same house that refuses to budge. Personally I think it might be worth it to kill off the idiots careers as feudal lords.

[Jim49418]

Whoops, I hit "vote up" by mistake.
Lets see, your blaming the GOP for everything?
Obama has had 17 months since the debt ceiling "crisis" bank in 2011 to come up with a budget, that included spending cuts. He's failed to do so. As a matter of fact, he has Never passed a budget since he's been in office.
Another fact that you might want to consider, is that there are over 450 House bill's sitting in the Senate, that Harry Reid refuses to look at. Several of them are budget proposals. Just who is it that are the "jackasses"???
Could it be the do nothing liberals that had 17 months to avoid this?
Oh HELL NO,.....blame the republicans,....... thats all this administration has done for four years,....why change now?
This bill should be rejected!
$680 Billion in tax hikes on the middle class, and hardly any spending cuts!
The Senate proposal is a Joke!

[jessejaymes]

@Jim49418 You obviously do not read me. I have posted a thousand times how I think both parties are corrupt to the core. In this particular case it is the House of Representatives that is being the worst. All but 8 out of 45 GOP Senators voted for this bill. That's as bipartisan as it gets. And buddy 400,000 a year is not middle class. Get a grip.

[mtkopf]

@Jim49418 I just read on newsmax that Grover Norquist approves the Senate bill. Even he knows that right now deal with the tax cuts and every month, when the debt ceiling needs to be raised, deal with spending issues. If Grover, the biggest conservative on this earth, agrees then the House repubs should surely agree.

[Jim49418]

@jessejaymes $400K a year might not be your so called "middle class"
But it's the small business owner that some 60% of us work for.
Get a grip yourself!

[jessejaymes]

@Jim49418 Nonsense. I owned 9 business locations, grossed over 3 million a year, paid profit sharing, paid double the industry average for long time workers and still took home over 200K a year. Went to Europe, Asia, somewhere every year. Bought new car every two years. You can fool some of the people all the time and all the people some of the time but you can't fool all the people all the time. I know that the average American earns less than 50K a year. 400% puts you in the top 2%. Get real next time or I'm not replying.

[Dan_Tien]

Woah! Didn't see THAT coming!

[Quantummist]

Reject the bill, Block it at every step.. Go off the so called cliff and cut spending across the board and drop the Bush era tax cuts altogether... Yes it would be a major thump to the US Economy... Good.. It's the Only way this country will survive... Until Every American has skin in the game we are doomed to Totalitarian Rule in the near future...

[Jim49418]

Well said,...I agree!

[Rcolebank]

Any bill that increases taxes without corresponding spending cuts is a non starter. I
Think the house should vote on this on if it fails, it fails!

[Bobolinsky]

How should Charlie respond when Lucy asks him to run up and kick the ball?

[Bleeding_Blue]

Of course the obstructionist are going to oppose it. They've done nothing else.

[mimi57]

Oh yes, keeping promises is what THIS administration has been doing...? Really?!!! The Dems know this is a
scam to screw the American people... They know it, we know it and anyone not living in a cave for the last four
years know it!!! The Republicans should not give anymore, let Obama have his little hissy fit like he always does.
Oh well, what's new?... If we go over the 'cliff' Obama and his cronies own it, it's on HIS watch!

[Raptor]

The republican party once again has proven to the American people that they are completely out of their minds, when it comes to governing this country puting the interests of the rich man first over what is best fot the middle class. Sending America into a ression!