Boehner: Obama ‘Slow-Walking’ to ‘Fiscal Cliff’ - East Idaho News
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Boehner: Obama ‘Slow-Walking’ to ‘Fiscal Cliff’

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Getty 121112 JohnBoehner?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1355250517638Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Only 21 days before a slate of abrupt tax increases and steep spending cuts are set to take effect, House Speaker John Boehner told fellow lawmakers that the White House has not been serious with proposals for spending cuts and accused President Obama of trying to “slow-walk” the process.

“Where are the president’s spending cuts? The longer the White House slow-walks this process, the closer our economy gets to the cliff,” Boehner said on the floor of the House of Representatives.

While the party leaders remain locked in a stalemate over tax rates, the speaker has apparently moved his attention to other aspects of the package, calling on the president to present a specific slate of cuts in order to get the negotiations moving toward a deal.

Boehner and Obama met in person for the first time in more than three weeks on Sunday, Dec. 9.

“It was a nice meeting, it was cordial, but we’re still waiting for the White House to identify what spending cuts the president is willing to make as part of the ‘balanced approach’ he promised the American people,” Boehner told colleagues.

The Republican offer made last week included half the revenue increases — $800 billion versus $1.2 trillion — of an offer President Obama made the week before.

But the president’s plan included an additional $50 billion in spending to kick-start the economy. It would cut $400 billion in future spending from government health programs.

Republicans’ proposal was heavier on cuts, envisioning cutting $600 billion in future spending from government health programs, cutting $300 billion from mandatory government programs, $300 billion in discretionary government programs and $200 billion by updating the formula by which the Consumer Price Index is calculated, which would affect all sorts of federal programs from Social Security to federal pensions.

“We know the president wants more new ‘stimulus’ spending and an increase in the debt limit without cuts or reforms,” Boehner said. “That’s not fixing our problem.  Frankly it’s making it worse.”

Boehner suggested he would not sign on to any plan that did not include more spending cuts.

“I think the members know I’m an optimist. I’m hopeful we will reach an agreement.  This is a serious issue and there’s a lot at stake. The American people sent us here to work together towards the best possible solution, and that means cutting spending,” he said, later adding, “Because right now the American people have to be scratching their heads wondering, ‘when is the president gonna get serious?’

The stepped-up pressure on President Obama came from both ends of Capitol Hill Tuesday.

On the same day that Speaker of the House John Boehner dug in, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called out President Obama for not committing to any spending cuts yet in the ongoing fiscal cliff negotiations.

“For all the president’s talk about the need for a balanced approach, the truth is he and his democratic allies simply refused to be pinned down on any spending cuts,” McConnell said from the Senate floor Tuesday morning. “Americans overwhelmingly support some level of cuts to government spending as part of a plan to cut the federal deficit. Yet, the president will not commit to it.”

McConnell said it boils down to the president refusing to lead on the issue and indicated that negotiations would not go forward until spending cuts are identified by the White House.

“The truth is until the president gets specific about cuts, nobody should trust democrats to put a dime in new revenue toward real deficit reduction or to stop their shakedown of the taxpayers at the top 2 percent,” McConnell said, “when it comes to deficit deals, the taxpayers need to trust but verify.”

A senior GOP leadership aide speaking on background explained Republicans’ position a little further: “Everyone is fixated on taxes. But in order for both sides to reach a balanced approached, Republicans need to see a list of spending cuts and reforms that the president is willing to accept.”

While three weeks remain until the “fiscal cliff” hits, most insiders are pressing for a deal sooner rather than later. Whenever an agreement is reached between the top party officials, the deal will have to be put into legislative form, posted online for three days and scored by the Congressional Budget Office before a vote in the House.

Lawmakers and aides hope to avert a last-minute Christmas Eve vote or, worse yet, the need to return to the Capitol after Christmas for legislative business between the holiday and the New Year.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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