Neil W. McCabe
Human Events
1/1/2013
Five Republicans and three Democrats voted against the “fiscal cliff” compromise crafted by Vice-President Joseph R. Biden Jr., and the Senate’s Republican leadership that passed the chamber Jan. 1 with 89 votes.
The five Republicans were: Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R.-Iowa), Sen. Michael Lee (R.-Utah), Sen. Rand H. Paul (R.-Ky.), Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R.-Ala.), Sen. Marco A. Rubio (R.-Fla.).
The three Democrats were: Sen. Thomas R. Harkin (D.-Iowa), Sen. Michael F. Bennett (D.-Colo.), Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D.-Del.).
The compromise, fashioned by Minority Leader A. Mitchell McConnell Jr., and Biden, extends the current federal tax regime for individuals earning more than $400,000 per year and households earning more than $450,000, as well as postponing spending decisions another two months.
“I appreciate all the hard work that went into avoiding the so-called ‘fiscal cliff.’ I especially commend Senator McConnell’s efforts to make the best out of a bad situation,” said Rubio.
“Nevertheless, I cannot support the arrangement they have arrived at. Rapid economic growth and spending reforms are the only way out of the real fiscal cliff our nation is facing,” he said. “But, rapid economic growth and job creation will be made more difficult under the deal reached here in Washington.”
Rubio said the reality of the bill’s tax increases is going to hit real Americans hard…
The article continues at Human Events.
Also at the site, Obama: No More Debt Ceiling
Speaking Jan. 1 at the White House at 11:20 p.m., less than an hour after the House voted 257 to 167 to approve new tax hikes, President Barack Obama announced that he will assert the authority to raise the debt ceiling for spending approved by Congress.
“One last point I want to make,” said the president flanked by Vice-President Joseph R. Biden Jr., whose Capitol Hill summitry closed the deal on a “fiscal cliff” compromise. “I will negotiate over many things, I will not have another debate with this Congress over whether or not they should pay the bills, they have already racked up through the laws they have passed.
This is a critical pivot for the president, who previously dismissed the idea floated among liberals that Section 4 of the 14th Amendment, one of the three amendments passed at the end of the Civil War, authorizes the executive to borrow the funds to make good federal debt payments.
It reads: The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned…
This is the second time the administration has wielded the debt ceiling as a hammer against the Republicans in Congress…
Update: DNC Chief Wasserman Schultz Vows Dems Will Not Negotiate With Republicans On Raising Debt Ceiling…
…“The debt ceiling is a separate issue,” Wasserman Schultz said. “The bottom line: Congress incurs bills. They have to be paid. The debt ceiling is not going to be a component of these negotiations.”…
Boehner tells GOP he’s through with one-on-one Obama talks
Average Tax Increase Under Fiscal Cliff Bill Will Be $1,635 Per Household…
Update 2: CBO: ‘Fiscal cliff’ deal carries $4 trillion price tag over next decade
Paul Ryan votes ‘yes’; Cantor ‘no’…
