Senate Dems Balk At Last-Minute GOP Fiscal Cliff Demand

[Stuart G]

Source: Talking Points Memo

The parties are nearing agreement that the Bush tax rates, including on capital gains, should be locked in for income up to a minimum of $450,000. Republicans would like to kick that up to over $500,000. Democrats are also prepared to make permanent the current low estate tax, which is set to increase, and apply to much less valuable estates, in 2013.

In exchange, Democrats are asking to extend expiring unemployment benefits, and Medicare physician payments, without offsetting spending cuts.

The net effect of the measure would likely not reduce the deficit. But it would set up a spending-cut cliff early next year. And Democrats are balking. They insist that automatic spending cuts scheduled to take effect later this week be put off for longer than three months, as Republicans have offered.

And on the Senate floor Monday morning, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, panned the deal, and argued that any deal should be cut from a post New Year’s baseline after all the Bush tax cuts have expired.


Read more: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/12/fiscal-cliff-debt-limit-sequester-bush-tax-cuts.php?ref=fpnewsfeed

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These four paragraphs are lower in the article...So we don't really know what the final deal is..but the Republicans look like they will get their way on the estate tax...and the 450,000 number. I wonder if progressive dems will go against the deal, as the article kinda implies..
We will know in a couple of hours..or so..

[Zephie]

1. All it sounds like is more "We'll deal with it later"

But maybe I'm misunderstanding. We're just moving the drive off the cliff off by a few months is what I got out of this.

[Stuart G]

2. Sounds like you are correct to me..we will know soon...nt

[Jackpine Radical]

3. We're giving away some long-term concessions

on tax cuts for the wealthy in return for short-term benefits like Unemployment Insurance & temporary fixes to provider reimbursement rates for Medicare.

It doesn't smell like a winner to me.

[bowens43]

4. absolutely. This is a HUGE loss for Democrats.

Once again Democrats refuse make a stand. When the going gets tough Democrats run away. 'No deal' would have been preferable. Then we would have the needed revenue and huge cuts in military spending. And of course now that they try to sneak this in at the very last moment on New Years eve it's not even possible to protest to our representatives.

The way this was done is slimy...

[loyalkydem]

5. Randi called it

Randi Rhodes said there would be a deal at the last minuet. I wanted us to go off the cliff.

[janx]

6. Why didn't we just take the plunge?

I don't get it.