An offer from House Speaker John Boehner could push the federal debt limit fight to the end of next year and is breathing new life into stalled talks over the year-end fiscal cliff. It remains a possibility that any fiscal cliff legislation could include the farm bill.
Boehner’s proposal would reportedly generate about two-trillion dollars in savings over the next decade. The amount is split between new taxes and spending talks. The offer would generate as much as 460-billion over the next decade by allowing the George W. Bush-era tax cuts expire on income over one-million dollars a year.
The remaining tax revenue would be generated through a rewrite of the tax code aimed at limiting deductions and other tax breaks. For everyone else – the Bush tax cuts would be extended.
But Boehner wants something in return for the higher tax rates for millionaires. He wants changes to federal health and retirement programs – and is looking for one-trillion dollars in total savings. The President has offered 600-billion dollars in spending cuts – with 350-billion coming from health programs and none from Social Security. As for the issue of taxes – President Obama has called for the Bush tax cuts to expire for income over 250-thousand dollars a year.
The Joint Committee on Taxation says the move would raise 830-billion over the next decade. He is also looking to raise taxes on inherited estates and new limits on tax breaks for the wealthy – to bring total new taxes to 1.6-trillion dollars. White House officials dropped their tax demand to 1.4-trillion last week.
According to some Democrats – Boehner’s proposal to set the income threshold for tax rate hikes at one-million dollars would sacrifice too much money. A threshold of 375-thousand or 500-thousand might be more acceptable.
If an agreement is reached – people on both sides of the aisle say it would probably include a postponement of automatic spending cuts. While there’s still hope of a resolution by Christmas – those close to the talks say a lot of work is still needed before Obama and Boehner seal a deal.
Source: NAFB News Service
Posted by Northern Ag Network
