Smelling Blood in the Water, the White House Counters Boehner’s Proposals

Speaker of the House John Boehner has desperately been reaching out to the White House in recent days, eagerly tipping his hand that he is willing to grovel to make a deal that would avoid the much-discussed fiscal cliff that is at the end of the year.

Boehner and other establishment (read: moderate) Republicans have been showing signs of cracking and considering deals that would entail increasing taxes on more-successful Americans. However, the vast majority of them have taken a “no-tax” pledge, declaring that they would not raise taxes.

On Saturday, Boehner betrayed that pledge by offering a compromise that sought to increase taxes on those making over one million dollars per year. When that was rejected, the Speaker offered to throw in extra fiscal irresponsibility by offering a one-year suspension of the debt ceiling.

While Boehner sought $1 trillion in new revenue from tax increases on income over $1 million and $1 trillion in entitlement cuts. The Obama Administration has countered with an offer of roughly $1.2 trillion in new revenue from tax increases on those making over $400,000 as well as $1.2 trillion in spending cuts.

In addition to the remarkably inadequate proposals put forth by the White House, the president’s deal also calls for extension of unemployment benefits, stimulus spending and a two-year indefinite suspension of the debt ceiling.

However, it is reported that there is some hesitance by Republicans to accept the deal due to some discrepancies in the numbers offered by the White House.

Painting Obama’s willingness to slightly tone down his fiscally reckless stance as an amazing compromise, Politico has reported on the offer, noting,

“The president’s proposal is not a final offer, but the White House views it as something that should get the two sides close to a deal because they have met Republicans more than halfway on spending and halfway on revenues, the source said.

But Boehner and other top Republicans have already rejected the Obama offer as inadequate, and they disputed some of the savings that the White House was counting in its dollar-for-dollar ratio on spending cuts versus new revenue.

‘Any movement away from the unrealistic offers the President has made previously is a step in the right direction, but a proposal that includes $1.3 trillion in revenue for only $930 billion in spending cuts cannot be considered balanced,’ Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck said in a statement. ‘We hope to continue discussions with the President so we can reach an agreement that is truly balanced and begins to solve our spending problem.’”

While Boehner crusades to try and meet middle ground, this is only a battle to get to the compromised position since the last time Republicans compromised. Fiscal recklessness from tax-and-spend liberals brought us to this crisis point, and despite firm calls by Republicans to not raise taxes, the Republican leaders are fighting to make a deal that includes tax hikes.

The point of negotiating was to get to an agreement that could address the unsustainable policies of the last four years without raising taxes- it’s not to make a bad deal and sell it to the American people as, “It could’ve been worse!”

Boehner is not doing us any favors. He should just pack it in and go home because no true Republican could possibly be entertaining these laughable terms as anything remotely workable.