Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said he believes there will be a deal to avert the fiscal cliff, although it will be smaller than the grand bargain originally proposed.
“I think it’s going to be very, very difficult, particularly after Boehner’s Plan B failed,” Cummings said on Jansing & Co.
The Maryland Congressman said Boehner’s being “controlled by the right-wing” of his party, although he’s a “good man.” But the failure of “Plan B” made clear that he doesn’t have control of his caucus. “Basically what it showed is, the Republican tea party folks, that they would not vote for any type of tax cut,” Cummings said.
The president appears to be pushing a deal to extend tax cuts for incomes under $250,000 dollars, to extend unemployment benefits and put off some of the automatic cuts.
Cummings clarified, saying even people making over $250,000 would still get a tax break on that first $250,000 of income.
But when it was suggested that both sides needed to give more to comprise, Cummings shot back.
“The president is catching hell from the left, in other words, from people who believe in the Congress, that the CPI, the cost of living, should not be reduced. So that people on veterans benefits, disability benefits, social security benefits so their money will not be reduced–considering most of these people already have nothing.” He’s referring to part of an earlier deal, that included a concession from the president on changing the cost of living calculator, essentially shrinking checks for future retirees. “I think he’s doing all he can and catching hell at the same time,” Cummings said. President Obama is headed back to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday evening from his vacation in Hawaii. Congress is also back in session Thursday.
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