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Columbus
Dispatch
Boehner unhappy
at Dems for lack of cuts
WASHINGTON — A pessimistic-sounding John Boehner complained yesterday
that President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats have refused to
offer deep spending cuts as part of a major budget agreement.
Emerging from a meeting with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the
House speaker said he was “disappointed in what’s happened in the last
couple of weeks” as the White House and congressional Republicans have
worked on a plan to avoid the combination of tax increases and spending
cuts — the “fiscal cliff” — that would take effect at year’s end.
GOP aides who requested anonymity said Geithner presented an offer
yesterday calling for $1.6 trillion in new tax revenue — largely from
tax increases on the wealthy — over the coming decade, extending the 2
percentage-point payroll-tax deduction or something comparable to it
and spending $50 billion in stimulus on infrastructure projects.
The only spending cuts in the plan would come from administration
proposals curbing health-care programs by $400 billion over the coming
decade and modest cuts from non-health programs such as farm subsidies;
cuts in Postal Service spending, and through higher fees on airline
tickets. The plan also would boost spending by extending unemployment
benefits for the long-term jobless, deferring looming cuts to Medicare
payments to physicians and helping homeowners refinance “underwater”
mortgages.
The aides said Geithner also requested the equivalent of a permanent
extension of the government’s borrowing ability to avoid wrangling over
the issue — as in last year’s summertime crisis over raising the debt
ceiling.
A senior Democratic aide confirmed that the GOP description of the
Geithner proposal is consistent with the latest position.
Boehner showed his frustration after the meeting.
Read the rest of the article at Columbus Dispatch
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