Sounds like we’re going over!
Republican House Leader John Boehner played around with this all year. He knew we were quickly approaching a deadline, but instead of working with the President to come to a deal of the Fiscal Cliff, Boehner continued the games and now expects the Senate to solve his problems.
But Senate Leader Harry Reid has something to say about that:
Speaking on the Senate floor, Reid castigated Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) for sending members of the House back to their districts last week after he was forced to scrap his “Plan B” tax plan for lack of support.
The Democratic leader said that even if Boehner agreed to hold a vote extending the Bush tax rates for incomes up to $250,000 — as Democrats have demanded to avoid one part of the fiscal cliff — it might not make it through Congress in time to prevent tax increases from beginning next year.
“I have to be honest — I don’t know, time-wise, how it can happen now,” Reid said.
Boehner said last week that he would give members of the House 48 hours notice if they needed to return for a vote on fiscal matters, but GOP leaders have yet to give the order for them to return.
“[Boehner] should call them back today — he shouldn’t have let them go, in fact,” Reid said.
Senators returned to work on Thursday with time running out to reach an agreement on a slew of tax increases and automatic spending cuts that are set to begin in January.
