LIVE: Obama Plans To Offer - Business Insider

Congressional leaders took an optimistic tone from an afternoon meeting at the White House, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he was "hopeful" he and Majority Leader Harry Reid could hash out a deal on Saturday to avert the year-end fiscal cliff.

Reid, McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner's office all said that the consensus from the meeting was that the Senate needs to take the next steps in any deal.?

Reid called the meeting "constructive" and said he "hopes it produces something constructive." He said the Senate would be out of session on Saturday so he and McConnell could hash out a deal.

President Barack Obama did not offer a "new" proposal in the meeting, contrary to McConnell's expectations.

Rather, Obama reiterated previous positions on income-tax rates and other components of the cliff.

He asked Congressional leaders at the meeting for a concrete counterproposal, which Reid and McConnell will try to do on Saturday. If no agreement is reached, he will ask for an up-or-down vote on his own plan in Congress.

At 3:10 p.m., Obama began his meeting at Reid, McConnell, Boehner, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. It ended at 4:15 p.m, the White House said.

Check the blog for a full recap of the day's events.

6:06 PM | Obama will appear on "Meet the Press" Sunday.

Via host David Gregory:

5:41 PM | Obama's statement comes in three minutes.

Here's a link to our coverage.

5:20 PM | REID: 'Whatever we come up with is going to be imperfect'

On the Senate floor a few minutes ago, Reid said that the Senate will be out of session tomorrow while he and McConnell work out a proposal.

Meanwhile, McConnell said "we had a good meeting down at the White House."

"We are engaged in discussions, the majority leader, myself and the White House in the hopes that we can come forward as early as Sunday and have a recommendation that I can make to my conference and the majority leader can make to his conference," McConnell said.

5:19 PM | Boehner: 'The next step should be the Senate taking bipartisan action.'

From a readout provided by Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck:

?At the top of the meeting, the Speaker reminded the group that the House has already acted to avert the entire fiscal cliff and is awaiting Senate action.? The leaders spent the majority of the meeting discussing potential options and components for a plan that could pass both chambers of Congress. The Speaker told the President that if the Senate amends the House-passed legislation and sends back a plan, the House will consider it - either by accepting or amending. The group agreed that the next step should be the Senate taking bipartisan action.?

5:08 PM | Obama statement coming at 5:45, the White House announces.

4:50 PM | Here's Mitch McConnell getting swarmed by Republican Senators upon his return to the floor.

4:47 PM | PELOSI ON THE WH MEETING: 'I think it moved us forward.'

She called it "candid" and "constructive," according to Pergram, and said that Boehner reiterated he won't move on a deal until the Senate acts.

4:32 PM | Meeting over: McConnell, Reid leave without comment.

4:26 PM | Per the White House pool report, the meeting ended at 4:15.

4:24 PM | Boehner and Pelosi leave at 4:20.

They both did not speak to reporters. Pelosi had trouble finding her car.

Still no word on Senate leaders.?

4:10 PM | Politico's Manu Raju has more details on what Obama reportedly pushed at the meeting ? which are the same points he's been pushing all along.

From Politico:

At the meeting, Obama is expected to make what the White House considers a scaled-back offer ? one to raise taxes on income over $250,000, extend jobless benefits, delay automatic defense and domestic cuts and patch the alternative minimum tax, sources say. Raising taxes at that level is a nonstarter for Republicans, who want far more in spending cuts.

4:01 PM | Markets fall on the news that Obama will not offer anything "new."

Dow finishes the day down more than 158 points. Nasdaq 25.6 points. S&P down 1.11 percent.

3:44 PM | REPORTS: Obama is not making a "new offer" today.

He is reiterating previous positions ? taxes go up on income above $250,000 and extension of unemployment benefits.

3:30 PM | Update on John Kerry...

An administration official confirms that he's at the White House for an unrelated meeting.

3:15 PM | Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is also at the White House for the fiscal cliff meeting.

According to the White House pool report.

3:08 PM | Surprise: John Kerry is also at the White House.

Hmm.

3:04 PM | McConnell, Boehner and Pelosi have also arrived.

Per CNN's Vaughn Sterling.

2:58 PM | Harry Reid has arrived at the White House.

Here's a photo of his car's arrival, via Politico's Donovan Slack:

12:40 PM | CORKER: 'The meeting today is more for optics.'

Republican Sen. Bob Corker suggested at a press conference that today's meeting at the White House is "more for optics" than anything substantial.

"Every American should be disgusted with all of Washington," Corker said.

Corker also signaled another potential debt ceiling fight early next year.

11:23 AM | Bloomberg provides more details about Obama's scaled-back plan.

It would include an extension of Bush-era tax rates on income below $250,000.?

It would also prevent the expansion of the alternative-minimum tax and halt a cut in Medicare payments to doctors, as well as extend unemployment insurance benefits.

And it would "delay or replace" some of the spending cuts.

11:00 AM | CNBC has some details of a potential "mini-deal" gaining some traction with Republicans.

Via CNBC's John Harwood:

10:45 AM | BLOOMBERG: Obama plans to offer "scaled-back" tax plan today.

According to Bloomberg, it will avert some of the tax hikes and spending cuts scheduled to hit via the fiscal cliff.

10:22 AM | SCHUMER: The odds for a deal are 'better than people think.'

On the Today Show this morning, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) expressed some optimism that a deal could get done before the deadline.?

?I am hopeful there will be a deal that avoids the worst parts of the fiscal cliff, namely taxes going up on middle-class people,?? Schumer said. ?I think there can be, and I think the odds are better than people think that there could be.??

Schumer pointed to two things for his optimism: The fact that McConnell and Obama are talking for the first time, and that Boehner is back at the table.?

"The fact that he?s come back and the four of them are at the table means to me, we could come up with some kind of agreement that would avoid the main parts of the fiscal cliff, particularly taxes going up on middle-class people," Schumer said.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/fiscal-cliff-december-28-obama-congress-face-deadline-2012-12

nick carter sister recruiting rankings san onofre paula deen birth control recall nick carter leslie carter