US Congress Shows No Urgency on 'Fiscal Cliff'
时间：2012-12-28 05:14:16
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CAPITOL HILL — Four days before Americans face massive automatic tax increases and deep federal spending cuts, Washington is showing no signs of forging a deficit1 reduction agreement to avert2 the so-called “fiscal3 cliff.” Many lawmakers are absent from Washington altogether, and the rest are pointing fingers and casting blame.
Watching official Washington, one might not know the nation is teetering on the edge of the fiscal cliff. President Barack Obama returned from a Hawaiian vacation Thursday with no events on his schedule.
The House of Representatives is
adjourned4 until Sunday. The Senate is in session, but debating a bill governing U.S. intelligence
gathering5, not the fiscal cliff.
That the House is closed for business at a critical time was
noted6 by Senate Majority Leader
Harry7 Reid.
“I cannot imagine their consciences. They [House members] are out wherever they are around the country, and we are here trying to get something done," he said.
The House adjourned last week after Republican Speaker John Boehner failed to
muster8 enough votes to pass an extension of federal tax rates for all income up to $1 million a year, far above the $250,000 cut-off sought by
Democrats9.
A clearly
frustrated10 Reid accused Boehner of employing heavy-handed tactics to block legislation and cast America off the fiscal cliff.
“The House of Representatives is operating without the House of Representatives. It is being operated with a dictatorship of the Speaker," he said.
A spokesman for Speaker Boehner said, “Senator Reid should talk less and
legislate11 more.”
In fact, both
chambers12 are accusing the other of
stymieing13 bills to avert the fiscal cliff. A House-passed bill that would extend all tax cuts for all income groups has not been taken up in the Senate, while a Senate bill extending tax cuts for income up to $250,000 a year has not been considered in the House.
The Senate’s top Republican, Mitch McConnell, recounted a recent telephone conversation he had with President Obama.
“Last night I told the president we would be happy to look at whatever he proposes. But the truth is, we are coming up against a hard deadline here. This is a conversation we should have had months ago," he said.
Political
analyst14 Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia is doubtful a bipartisan deal can be forged by New Year’s Eve.
“It will take a miracle to keep us from going off the fiscal cliff. The most likely
scenario15 is that we do go off the cliff, and then Congress acts," he said.
Sabato points out that Republicans who are
loathe16 to vote for tax hikes now will not have to do so once taxes go up on all income groups on January 1.
“By then taxes will automatically have risen, dramatically, for most Americans. Then, instead of having to vote on a tax increase, they can vote to decrease taxes, at least in some categories for some Americans," he said.
Sabato says that however the fiscal cliff drama plays out, Washington has given itself another black eye, saying, “Congress has proven to be best at finger-pointing rather than
legislating17.”
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