January 1, 2013

If the House doesn't vote on it, it is not law...JUST A DEAL...

We are over the cliff, if the House does not vote on it. A law must be voted on by House and Senate, and signed by President..
a DEAL IS JUST A DEAL ...NOT A LAW....

It ain't over ...we will see.

January 1, 2013

Senate Dems Balk At Last-Minute GOP Fiscal Cliff Demand

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..