GOP's $4.6T 'fiscal cliff' counterproposal rebuffed

[TomCADem]

Source: USA Today

House Republicans sent a counterproposal to avert the "fiscal cliff" to the White House on Monday outlining a $4.6 trillion deficit reduction proposal without raising tax rates.

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The House GOP plan received a similar reception Monday from White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer, who said the Republican plan "does not meet the test of balance. In fact, it actually promises to lower rates for the wealthy and sticks the middle class with the bill. Their plan includes nothing new and provides no details on which deductions they would eliminate, which loopholes they will close or which Medicare savings they would achieve. Independent analysts who have looked at plans like this one have concluded that middle class taxes will have to go up to pay for lower rates for millionaires and billionaires.

* * *
The House Republicans' proposal was short on specifics but calls for $800 billion in new revenue achieved through closing loopholes and capping deductions; $900 billion in health care and other mandatory spending cuts; $300 billion in spending cuts for discretionary spending, which includes social programs such as food stamps; and $200 billion gained by changing the way the government calculates cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security and Medicare.

* * *
The GOP plan does not include any proposal on how to raise the debt ceiling, which is another non-starter for the White House which wants to use the fiscal cliff negotiations to include an agreement to raise the debt ceiling in February when the U.S. is expected to hit its $16.4 trillion borrowing limit. The president wants to avoid another debt limit fight with congressional Republicans like the one that rattled Wall Street in the summer of 2011.

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2012/12/03/gop-cliff-counteroffer/1743307/

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The corporate media totally covers for the Republicans by calling their set of talking points a plan. The proposed $800 million in "revenue" consists of $800 million of mystery meat. Where are the details? (Sound familiar?) I mean did Mitt Romney become President of the House of Representatives?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

1. What you want specifics?

I thought this was only kabuki (political) theater?

[Kablooie]

2. Short on specifics is a grand plan and will save the day I'm sure.

Who needs specifics when vague platitudes get you reelected?

[TomCADem]

3. An Agreement to Agree - Republicans Can Easily Renege On $800 Million!

They don't specify what deductions they will cut and, instead, say that those details can be worked out later. Thus, Republicans can then reach impasse later, pocket the cuts, then demand additional cuts and use the debt limit as a weapon to cut even more. It is amazing how the mainstream media fails to point out that Republicans have not offered squat, since they are only promising to discuss the specifics later.

[William Seger]

5. There was one specific thing: No tax rate increases

D.O.A.

[rightsideout]

4. Short on specifics?

Sounds similar to a recent campaign which failed.

[Cali_Democrat]

6. So they basically proposed Romney's plan

[DallasNE]

7. Demand That Boehner Sends His Proposal To CBO For Scoring

That should show who will be impacted and by how much, in addition to the impact on the deficit vs. current law. If CBO can't score it then it is a political talking point rather than a serious proposal and the ball is stalled in Boehner's court.