Reps. Pelosi and Price Offer Their Views of Avoiding Fiscal Cliff - East Idaho News
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Reps. Pelosi and Price Offer Their Views of Avoiding Fiscal Cliff

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GETTY P 102611 MoneyClockJPG?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1353324419074Hemera/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — There were few signs Sunday that Republicans and Democrats are willing to agree on ways to avoid the looming fiscal cliff despite an earlier White House meeting that President Obama called “constructive.”

Towing the administration’s line to end tax breaks for the wealthy is House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who told ABC’s This Week that the president must insist that any raising of revenue has to mean “higher income people have to pay their fair share.”

The GOP wants the Bush-era tax breaks extended for all income brackets, a scenario Obama and Pelosi find untenable.  Instead, Republicans maintain that revenue can be produced by closing certain tax loopholes.

Pelosi argued that loopholes won’t raise enough money on their own.  Yet, in spite of the differing proposal, the California Democrat believes that a deal can be struck by the middle of December so that 98 percent of Americans can continue paying lower taxes along with blocking some of the $600 billion in automatic spending cuts due in January.

On CNN’s State of the Union, Republican Congressman Tom Price of Georgia was adamant that allowing tax breaks to end for the rich is a non-starter when it comes to avoiding the fiscal cliff.

Price, who sits on the House Ways and Means Committee, said that “Tax increases to chase ever higher spending is a fool’s errand,” asserting that small businesses which create jobs will be the real victims. He called for a balanced approach to solve the problem, namely, a combination of reforming the tax code and spending reductions.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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