Reply #14: Obama, GOP in quiet talks to extend tax cuts

[Elmore Furth]

Now the rubber meets the road.

By Lori Montgomery and Shailagh Murray
Thursday, December 2, 2010; 9:36 PM

The White House and congressional Republicans have begun working behind the scenes toward a broad deal that would prevent taxes from going up for virtually every U.S. family and authorize billions of dollars in fresh spending to bolster the economy.

Negotiations have accelerated in recent days as Congress has confronted deadlines for extending a series of tax cuts that expire at the end of the month, renewing emergency jobless benefits and keeping the government funded into next year.

The talks mark the dawn of a new era on Capitol Hill, with resurgent Republicans holding far more leverage and commanding a more prominent role in crafting legislation. The private discussions, which parallel a more public set of talks, have left many Democrats grousing that President Obama is being too quick to accommodate his adversaries, who are still a month away from taking control of the House and expanding their presence in the Senate.

Republicans are demanding that Democrats extend Bush-era tax cuts at all income levels at least temporarily, not just those that primarily benefit the middle class. They are also pressing Democrats to approve a measure to keep the government funded through September, possibly avoiding a fight with the White House over spending that could provoke a government shutdown.

The negotiations, which involve Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) , pre-date a bipartisan meeting Tuesday at the White House over the year-end legislative agenda, according to congressional sources. Conducted by phone and through other back channels, they are running parallel to more public bargaining sessions led by Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and White House budget chief Jacob Lew.






Obama, GOP in quiet talks to extend tax cuts