Any ‘fiscal cliff’ deal must get through political obstacle course in next few days

[Draggingtree]

The Washington Post:

Any ‘fiscal cliff’ deal must get through political obstacle course in next few days

By Paul Kane,

 

Dec 29, 2012 01:53 AM EST

The Washington PostPublished: December 28

Turning the newfound optimism for a deal to avoid the “fiscal cliff” into an actual deal will take 72 hours of deft political and procedural maneuvering through many of the same traps that have so far prevented an agreement.

 

 

Democrats and Republicans still have very different notions of who should pay higher taxes and who shouldn’t. And whatever party leaders come up with must still go through the thicket of politics in the slow-moving Senate and the anything-goes House.

 

“We’re trying to get the Rubik’s Cube all lined up,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said Friday evening.

 

The first step began Friday night, when senior aides to President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) began negotiating pieces of a fiscal puzzle that must be fit together by the time the ball drops on New Year’s Eve.

Those talks are expected to continue Saturday, when both chambers of Congress will be shut down so Senate leaders can craft a deal that both of their caucuses are willing to accept.

Taxes remain the primary sticking point. Republicans have signaled a willingness to extend the George W. Bush-era tax cuts for all income up to $400,000, while Democrats prefer the $250,000 figure

[Valin]

Fiscal cliff update Dec. 29: A Sunday deal in the works

Karl Selzer

12/29/2012 12:40 PM

 

 

In the wake of President Obama’s Friday evening press conference, it’s up to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to come up with a final proposal to avert the fiscal cliff. President Obama says he is “modestly optimistic” that the leaders of both parties will unite around a compromise by Sunday when the Senate is expected to take up votes. Likewise, House Speaker John Boehner has called the lower chamber of Congress to reconvene on Sunday. Either way, the next couple of days are sure to be filled with all the action of a Hollywood blockbuster — unfortunately, sans Chuck Norris.

 

Expect talks to continue well into the night between Congressional Democratic and Republican leadership. Remember: if Reid and McConnell can not come to a compromise, the Senate Majority Leader is simply going to put the Obama fiscal cliff plan up for a vote. This, hopefully, will not be the final word, as conservatives must push for a greater reduction in the federal government’s deficit spending. Though one could make the argument that no matter what the proposal is, it is going to be heavy on the taxes, light on the spending cuts in order to make it to the president’s desk.

 

 

 

(Snip)

 

@Draggingtree, Why should I have this sense of impending doom?

 

[Draggingtree]