Last night, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) failed to get enough of his own party to vote for his “Plan B” fiscal cliff package. After “Plan B” was pulled from the House floor the House officially delaying all legislative business until after the Christmas holiday. Now, we are left with only six days after Christmas for Speaker Boehner to work out a compromise with a President Obama and avoid the fiscal cliff. While Speaker Boehner pleaded for votes telling fellow Republicans they would lose their negotiating power if they did not vote for “Plan B,” he ended up failing and thus canceling the vote because he knew he it would not pass.
The president is ready to negotiate a compromise and ensure the American people do not go over the fiscal cliff come January 1. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said yesterday, “. “The President is ready right now to negotiate a compromise along the lines of the one he put forward. It’s available, it’s a good deal. It’s right here. The President of the United States, Barack Obama, has put it forward. It’s a good, fair deal, and a balanced deal, and they ought to continue to negotiate to try to achieve something big for the American people.”
Today Speaker Boehner held a press conference where he said: “As you know the House did not take up the tax bill last night because we didn’t have the votes to pass it. It’s not the outcome that I wanted, but it was the will of the House. So unless the president and Congress take action tax rates will go up on every American taxpayer and devastating defense cuts will go into effect in 10 days.” So now that Speaker Boehner’s “Plan B” was essentially rejected will he be able to find a compromise with President Obama and avoid us going over the fiscal cliff?
According a new Washington Post/ABC poll 53% of Americans say the Republicans problem is that they are overly conservative and unconcerned with the welfare of the people. While only 38% say the bigger is issue is that the Republicans need a better leader to explain and win support for their policies. So what exactly does this mean for Speaker Boehner’s future? Politico’s Jake Sherman joins the conversation to help the Cyclists answer this question today at 3 p.m.
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