| "Fiscal Cliff" Negotiations Invoke Renewed Sense of Compromise |
| Nov-16-2012 |
| Keywords: dem, rep, fiscal cliff, meeting, constructive, compromise |
The White House and Congress on Friday began the negotiation process needed to arrive at a compromise aimed at averting the "fiscal cliff."
In a surprising display of bipartisanship, four congressional leaders - two Republicans, John A. Boehner, the House speaker, and Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader; and two Democrats, Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, and Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader - spoke with reporters after meeting with President Barack Obama.
Mr. Boehner, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), Mr. Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) emerged from the more than hour-long meeting with Mr. Obama committed to begin immediate negotiations
Mr. Boehner said he "outlined a framework that deals with reforming our tax code and reforming our spending" at the meeting, something he said was "consistent with the president's call for a fair and balanced approach."
Mr. McConnell suggested both Democrats and Republicans were prepared to make concessions, particularly over the issues of taxes and entitlement programs like Medicare.
"We fully understand you cannot save the country until you have entitlement programs that fit the demographics of a changing America," said Mr. McConnell.
Adding to the bipartisan tone of the day, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said there is a new sense of urgency on Capital Hill to get a deal done.
"We feel very comfortable with each other, and this isn't something we're going to wait until the last day of December to get it done," Mr. Reid said. "We feel we understand what the problem is. And we felt very - I feel very good about what we were able to talk about in there. We have the cornerstones of being able to work something out. We're both going to have to give up some of the things that we know are a problem."
The financial markets seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, stocks bounced off their lows of the day, turning positive in afternoon trading.
A key question coming out of the meeting concerns the structure of any agreement. Negotiators could set targets for tax and spending changes and then try and work through the details next year, or they could attempt to complete a more robust package quickly while it has the nation's focus, which would also avoid later backsliding.
The fiscal cliff -- a mixture of spending cuts and tax hikes -- is set to go into effect at the beginning of next year. The cliff is a vestige of the last debt debate in Congress, where lawmakers failed to come to a so-called "grand bargain" to set the country on a more sustainable fiscally responsible path. |
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Posted by Lou Dobbs Staff at 7:00 PM Email to a friend |
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