Right Change: The House Offers Fiscal Cliff Deal

Now that the election sulking is over, it’s time to move onto the biggest issue facing our country: the fiscal cliff. Unfortunately, the beginning of the 2013 offers us anything but a fresh start ,with over $600 billion in tax increases at stake. With a combination of the Bush Tax Cuts expiring, the payroll tax holiday, the expansion of the AMT tax, the sequester, and a $16.39 trillion limit in our national debt being hit, it’s sure to be a crazy holiday season. The White House and Congress were at a stalemate, but House Republicans just put a fair offer on the table. Let’s see how long it takes President Obama to distort this.

After President Obama offered a deal that included $1.6 trillion in new taxes with no spending cut guarantees, House Republicans put a $2.2 trillion offer on the table:

“The proposal, unveiled by senior GOP aides Monday during a briefing in the Capitol, assumes $800 billion in fresh governmental revenue through tax reform, $600 billion in health savings and changes to an inflation formula that determines benefit levels across government programs, including Social Security.

There’s also $600 billion in other savings, split evenly between mandatory and discretionary spending.

“With the fiscal cliff nearing, our priority remains finding a reasonable solution that can pass both the House and the Senate, and be signed into law in the next couple of weeks,” stated the letter, which was signed by all seven GOP leaders.

Politically, the counteroffer helps Republicans blunt a White House talking point that the GOP didn’t have a plan of its own — a criticism that grew louder after Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner delivered a plan to congressional leaders last week.”

First of all, it’s hilarious that an Obama spokesperson would have the audacity to criticize Republicans for not having a plan when they have produced no jobs plan, no entitlement reform, no tax reform, etc. AND, their own party that controls the Senate has failed to produce a budget in four years. Second, the plan that they did propose shouldn’t even be considered a plan seeing as though it calls for $1.6 trillion in new revenue without any commitment to cutting our over $16 trillion deficit.

See the comparison of the two plans below. (House Republicans sent this chart to the White House.)

At least these House cuts are legitimate and don’t count savings from the Budget Control Act that was negotiated in 2011. Republicans ought to stand firm on this and not roll over to a fat $1.6 trillion check worth of fresh cash for Obama and the Democrats to spend as they choose.

Back To Blog