Just when it looked like Congress had reached a solution to the impending fiscal crisis, House Republicans turned the tables and signaled they are likely to shoot down the Senate’s current cliff bill, which overwhelmingly passed the upper chamber early this morning.
Majority Leader Eric Cantor told reporters this afternoon that he will not support the legislation in its current form, adding that the House GOP will likely push for an amendment that adds more spending cuts.
Amending the bill could be the kiss of death for this fiscal cliff solution. Many doubt the Senate would take up the amended bill, and believe the measure would have to be passed along to the next Congress, which would mean starting this whole painful process all over again. - Read more at the Washington Post
HOUSE DEMS PUSH FOR UP/DOWN VOTE Nervous House Democrats emerged from a meeting with Vice President Joe Biden this afternoon calling on Speaker John Boehner to put the Senate cliff deal to an up or down vote, which would take away the GOP’s ability to amend the bill. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called out Boehner, repeating the Speaker’s vow to bring any bill the Senate passed to a vote in the House. - Read more at Marketwatch
CBO: SENATE BILL ADDS $4 TRILLION TO FEDERAL DEFICIT Thanks to the House GOP, it no longer looks like the Senate bill will be the deal that saves the country from the fiscal cliff. However, in the unlikely event that it does pass the House in its current form, the measure would add nearly $4 trillion to federal deficits over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday.
Under the Senate’s measure, the fiscal year 2013 deficit would be about $330 billion higher than if no deal is reached and Congress allows the $600 billion in higher taxes and spending cuts to take effect. - Read more at Reuters
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