This morning, Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, held a news conference to talk about the fiscal cliff, after his back-up plan–dubbed “Plan B”–did not even garner enough support to be voted on in the House.
“It’s not the outcome that I wanted, but it was the will of the House,” Boehner said Friday. “We had a number of our members who just really didn’t want to be perceived as having raised taxes. That was the real issue.”
Boehner said he does not believe his speakership is in danger.
Former Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., said on Jansing & Co., “I actually think the ball is in the president’s court, in the sense that, he’s got to come up with a proposal that addresses this issue.”
Gregg is referring to “one-for-one,” an equal number of spending cuts and revenue increases. He insists a deal to avert the fiscal cliff is still possible.
“It’s always about the politics, but numbers drive politics in this situation,” Gregg said. Reid Wilson, editor-in-chief of National Journal’s Hotline, said the chances aren’t terribly good that there will be a deal to stop the fiscal cliff. Perry Bacon, political editor of The Grio says, “The partisans on both sides, particularly the Republican partisans just aren’t there yet in terms of compromise.”
Kristin Donnelly Recommended
