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News from the Hill
Senate passes
bill to avoid 'cliff'; House balks
The Hill
Senate-passed
'fiscal cliff' agreement in trouble in House
By Erik Wasson, Russell Berman and Molly K. Hooper
01/01/13 05:05
The Senate’s New Year’s Eve compromise on the "fiscal cliff" hit major
turbulence in the House on Tuesday, and the Republican majority is
likely to try to amend the bill and send it back to the Senate, House
Republicans said.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told his conference he is
flatly opposed to the Senate bill without more spending cuts, members
said as they emerged from a nearly two-hour Republican meeting in the
Capitol.
According to sources in the room, Cantor said that he did not "support"
the Senate-backed bill but stopped short of saying he would vote
against it if the House took it up on the floor.
The sizeable objections among House Republicans to the Senate approach
risks scuttling the deal worked out by Senate Minority Leader Mitch
McConnell (R-Ky.) and Vice President Biden on Monday. That deal passed
early Tuesday in the Senate 89-8.
GOP leaders repeated "10 to 15 times" that they would only take up an
amendment if 218 House Republicans will vote for the amendment.
Read the rest of the article at The Hill
The Hill
Senate approves
Biden-McConnell fiscal cliff deal in easy 89-8 vote
By Alexander Bolton
01/01/13
The Senate early on New Year's Day voted overwhelmingly in favor of a
fiscal cliff deal that would extend tax rates on annual household
income under $450,000 and postpones automatic spending cuts for two
months.
The bill was approved in an 89-8 vote that came after only 10 minutes
of formal floor debate and no official score from the Congressional
Budget Office. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated it would
reduce federal revenue by $3.93 trillion over the next decade compared
to current law.
Five Republicans and three Democrats voted against the bill: Sens.
Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa),
Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Marco Rubio
(R-Fla.) and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.).
Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Frank Lautenberg
(D-N.J.) missed the vote.
The 89-8 vote puts pressure on the GOP-led House to approve the
legislation, though it remains to be seen if most House Republicans
will back a bill that would add to the deficit and lacks the deep
spending cuts that conservatives have been calling for.
A 90-minute meeting of Senate Democrats ending shortly before midnight
sealed the deal negotiated between Vice President Biden and Senate
Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.). The passage of the bill
is a significant victory for Biden, who might run for president in
2016, and McConnell, who is up for reelection next year.
The legislation would permanently extend the Bush-era income tax rates
on individual income up to $400,000 and family income up to $450,000.
It permanently sets the estate tax rate at 40 percent, up from 35
percent, and exempts inheritances below $5 million.
Read the rest of the article at The Hill
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