Can't say it'd really be a bad thing...
House, Senate Leaders Head to White House for Last-Ditch Dealing on Budget
GOP to Unveil Budget Plan Cutting More Than $6T Over Next Decade
House, Senate Leaders Head to White House for Last-Ditch Dealing on Budget
"The White House has refused to take the tough issues on ... What it really looks like is that the White House has increased the likelihood for a shutdown by dismissing out of hand a vehicle" that could prevent closing down the federal government.
Even as shutdown talk continues, Republicans were bracing for a seventh short-term resolution to keep government operating for one more week so Congress can get through the machinations needed to pass a compromise spending plan.
The one-week continuing resolution, which is a backup that Boehner will only "break glass" on if he has to, would exact stiff demands, and senior budget negotiators say they aren't sure it has the votes to pass even if it were accepted by Democrats.
The last-ditch deal -- which is being drawn up because the House needs to allow a three-day buffer before considering a longer-term budget, pushing back a vote beyond Friday night's deadline for a shutdown -- includes $12 billion in cuts from an array of places and a funding plan to provide for the Pentagon through the end of the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.
"We hope the White House and Senate Democrats will get serious about making real spending cuts on a long-term bill, but this measure provides us with an option if House Republicans choose to use it," Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said late Monday.
Even as shutdown talk continues, Republicans were bracing for a seventh short-term resolution to keep government operating for one more week so Congress can get through the machinations needed to pass a compromise spending plan.
The one-week continuing resolution, which is a backup that Boehner will only "break glass" on if he has to, would exact stiff demands, and senior budget negotiators say they aren't sure it has the votes to pass even if it were accepted by Democrats.
The last-ditch deal -- which is being drawn up because the House needs to allow a three-day buffer before considering a longer-term budget, pushing back a vote beyond Friday night's deadline for a shutdown -- includes $12 billion in cuts from an array of places and a funding plan to provide for the Pentagon through the end of the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.
"We hope the White House and Senate Democrats will get serious about making real spending cuts on a long-term bill, but this measure provides us with an option if House Republicans choose to use it," Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said late Monday.
Rep. Paul Ryan’s proposal, set to be unveiled Tuesday, will serve as the Republican’s official response to President Obama’s proposed $3.7 trillion budget for 2012. The White House claims its plan would cut deficits by $1.1 trillion over a decade.
But Ryan, R-Wis., in an interview with "Fox News Sunday," accused Obama of "punting" and said Republicans' plan would exceed the fiscal goals set by the president's fiscal commission -- which issued a report calling for $4 trillion in cuts. That report never made it out of committee.
"We can't keep kicking this can down the road," Ryan said. "The president has punted. We're not going to follow suit."
But Ryan, R-Wis., in an interview with "Fox News Sunday," accused Obama of "punting" and said Republicans' plan would exceed the fiscal goals set by the president's fiscal commission -- which issued a report calling for $4 trillion in cuts. That report never made it out of committee.
"We can't keep kicking this can down the road," Ryan said. "The president has punted. We're not going to follow suit."
It also calls for reforms to the nation's "outdated tax code, consolidating brackets, lowering tax rates, and assuming top individual and corporate rates of 25 percent," Ryan wrote. "It maintains a revenue-neutral approach by clearing out a burdensome tangle of deductions and loopholes that distort economic activity and leave some corporations paying no income taxes at all."
Among some of the likely more controversial plans are efforts to end the conservatorship of mortgage giants, an elimination of Wall Street bailout authority and a rollback of "expensive handouts for uncompetitive sources of energy."
Among some of the likely more controversial plans are efforts to end the conservatorship of mortgage giants, an elimination of Wall Street bailout authority and a rollback of "expensive handouts for uncompetitive sources of energy."
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