Barack Obama, as US President, and John Boehner, as US Representative of Ohio and House Speaker/AP
By Susan Davis, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON - House Speaker John Boehner was handed a stunning defeat
late Thursday by members of his own party who refused to support his
"Plan B" to avoid the year-end "fiscal cliff" that threatens to send the
economy in to a recession.
GOP leaders worked intensely Thursday
to build support for Boehner's two-pronged legislative effort to cut
spending and extend current tax rates for all but those earning $1
million or above, but they could not persuade enough Republicans to vote
for the proposal in the face of what was expected to be unanimous
opposition from Democrats.
Boehner's failure to move his
alternative plan through the House, as well as the current impasse with
President Obama on how to address expiring tax rates and impending
spending cuts, has thrown negotiations to avert the "fiscal cliff" in to
disarray just 10 days before it hits.
In
a brief statement, Boehner, R-Ohio, said his plan "did not have
sufficient support for our members to pass" and put the responsibility
to avert the "fiscal cliff" on Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry
Reid, D-Nev.
The White House said in a statement that the
president's "main priority" is that tax rates do not rise for 98% of
Americans and that Obama "will work with Congress to get this done."
Boehner
summoned his rank-and-file to a meeting late Thursday where he opened
with the Serenity Prayer and informed his members that he did not have
enough of their support to move forward. He told lawmakers that he would
reach out to the president to determine the next steps. Lawmakers were
told they could go home for the Christmas holiday. No votes are expected
in Congress before Dec. 27.
"This was our attempt to lead," said
Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., who supported Boehner's plan. "Clearly, we
were not able to do that. So now we're going to have to respond to
whatever the Senate is able to do."
Reid supports Obama's proposal
to let tax rates expire for those earning $250,000 a year or more. In
negotiations with Boehner, the president agreed to $400,000 and above,
but it is unclear how the GOP's failure Thursday to approve their own
tax plan will affect ongoing negotiations.
Before the collapse of
the Plan B vote, the House narrowly passed a spending cuts bill,
originally authored by Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to partially
alter impending Jan. 2 spending cuts to protect defense programs, by a
215-209 vote.
House Democrats, led by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
of California, criticized the spending vote, saying it gutted social
programs for the poor.
"More than 20 million children will have
reduced food and nutrition benefits. Merry Christmas to you and yours.
One-point-seven million seniors will lose Meals on Wheels. Happy
holidays to you," Pelosi deadpanned.
Just 10 days remain to
negotiate a bipartisan agreement to avert expiring tax rates and new
spending cuts that together threaten the U.S. economic recovery.
The
president and Boehner have exchanged dueling offers to avoid the cliff,
but they have failed to find consensus on which Americans should pay
more in taxes or how much spending should be cut. The president is also
seeking a two-year extension of the debt ceiling - the nation's
borrowing authority - which Republicans strongly oppose.
GOP
legislative maneuvering on what Plan B was more tactical than practical
because Reid had said he will not take it up in the Senate and Obama had
pledged to veto it.
"We're not taking up any of the things they are working on over there," Reid said. "It's time for Republicans to get serious."
White
House spokesman Jay Carney had called Boehner's and the Republicans'
pursuit of Plan B an "a multiday exercise in futility."
Recent
public polling confirms Republican fears that their party could take the
brunt of the blame if Washington goes over the "fiscal cliff" and tax
rates rise on practically every American household.
A USA
TODAY/Gallup Poll showed Americans by a nearly 2-to-1 margin approved of
Obama's handling of the negotiations over Boehner's. Meanwhile, a
CNN/ORC International survey released Thursday showed for the first time
in their polling, a majority - 53% - view Republican policies are too
"extreme," up 17 points from two years ago, when the Republicans first
took control of the House after the 2010 elections.