On Thursday, Boehner told ABC News’ Diane Sawyer that
repealing Obamacare was no longer his party’s strategy saying, “Obamacare is
the law of the land” and the election settled the dispute over repeal.
During that interview, the Speaker also told Sawyer that
comprehensive immigration reform is a top priority in his legislative agenda
during the next Congress. Republicans within his conference, like Rep. John
Fleming, were livid.
“I’m concerned that Speaker Boehner is getting ahead of
House Republicans when he commits to getting a ‘comprehensive approach’ to
immigration taken care of ‘once and for all.’ There’s been zero discussion of
this issue within the conference, and I’m urging the Speaker to talk with House
Republicans before making pledges on the national news,” Fleming, R-La.,
blasted in a statement. “The Speaker needs to pull back on this issue and stop
negotiating in public.”And when Boehner tried last year to negotiate a grand bargain with Obama on the deficit, taxes and entitlements, key members of his party revolted at the notion.
In one of his last news conferences before the election, the Speaker said his failure to strike a grand bargain with the president was “the biggest disappointment of my speakership.”
Boehner, who held a news conference Friday shortly before
Obama said, “This is an opportunity for the president to lead. This is his
moment to engage the Congress and work towards a solution that can pass both
chambers.”
When pressed on what was the size of deficit reduction
package he envisioned, the speaker reiterated that he does not want to limit
the scope of negotiations and once again called for Obama to lead.
“I don’t want to box myself in. I don’t want to box
anybody else in,” Boehner said.
“I don’t want to limit the options that would be available
to me or limit the options that might be available to the White House,” he
said. “There are a lot of ways to get there, and I don’t really want to
preclude anyone who might have a good idea about how we move forward.”
Democratic and Republican leaders appeared Sunday to draw
closer to reaching a compromise on keeping the country from going off the
fast-approaching “fiscal cliff” — with closing tax loopholes for America’s
highest earners emerging as the potential middle ground.
“I am optimistic,” Republican Sen. Bob Corker said on “Fox
News Sunday.” “I think there is the basis for the deal.”
Congress is under pressure to reach a deal in its
so-called lame duck session because an estimated $600 billion in federal
spending cuts and tax increases take effect at the end of December. And President
Obama has invited congressional leaders to the White House on Friday to discuss
the issue.
The president wants to extend tax cuts for families that
make less than $250,000 annually.
New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer said Sunday he
agrees with House Republicans who steadfastly say more cuts to federal spending
are needed. However, he disagreed with the idea that tax cuts result in deficit
reductions and increased government revenue.
“It doesn’t make sense,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.
“I call it Rumpelstiltskin, after the gnome who turned straw into gold. It’s a
fairy tale.”
David Axelrod, a top adviser on Obama’s reelection
campaign, said he was encouraged by House Speaker John Boehner signaling
willingness last week to close the loopholes to help cut the deficit.
“I think there are a lot of ways to skin this cat, so long
as everybody comes with a positive, constructive attitude toward the task,” he
said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
A similar plan was suggested by the commission created by
Obama and led by Republican Alan Simpson and Democrat Erskine Bowles.
Democrat Kent Conrad, chairman of the Senate Budget
Committee also expressed optimism but suggested Congress agree on plan that
would at least give lawmakers enough time to reach a more comprehensive deal to
overhaul the entitlement program and the tax code.
“You can’t settle every detail in these next few weeks,”
he said on Fox. “What you can do is agree on a framework.”
Source: Tea
Party.ogr, Fox News and ABC contributed to this report:http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/11/11/democrats-republicans-seem-more-ready-to-compromise-on-deficit-deal/#ixzz2BzarK6fW
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/boehners-gop-problems-complicate-deficit-negotiations/story?id=17681215#.UKCp3xht1-U
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