Two-thirds of Americans want Washington to reach a deal and steer the country away from the fiscal cliff, even if it means cutting spending and raising taxes, a new NBC/WSJ poll released Thursday shows.
Even the majority of responders who self-identify as Republicans say the GOP should make concessions to Democrats in order to avoid the fiscal cliff. In April, just 38 percent of Republicans wanted a compromise between the two parties, but now, as the deadline fast approaches, 59 percent are hoping for a compromise. - Read more at The Wall Street Journal
CONSERVATIVES SAY ‘STAY FIRM’ Even so, conservative leaders are warning GOP lawmakers to stand their ground and not cave to the president's demands or they will suffer "consequences to their political careers."
In an open letter to Republican leaders, 100 influential conservatives warned GOP lawmakers against voting for any compromise on the fiscal cliff.
"The thrust of the letter is to remind Republicans in Congress that this is a time of testing," Morton Blackwell, a veteran Republican Party activist, told Business Insider. "The pressure is on to cave into the demands of President Obama and the left....They need to understand or be reminded that to cave in would be very bad and very much damage the credibility of the GOP" - Read more at Business Insider
‘ELEVENTH HOUR’ Congressional leaders continued digging their heels in Thursday, unsurprisingly signaling that neither side is ready to cave in order to reach a cliff compromise.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, held back-to-back press conferences outlining their positions on the fiscal cliff. Boehner again rejected the president's demands to raise tax rates on the wealthiest 2 percent, and (again) insisted that the White House “get serious about spending cuts.”
“Here we are in the eleventh hour and the president still isn’t serious about dealing with this issue,” Boehner said. “We made a reasonable offer and it’s now up to the White House to show us how they’re going to cut spending and give us the balanced approach the president has been talking about.”
Reid shot back at the Speaker’s remarks, saying the GOP was wasting time and “ignoring the voice of the American people… sooner or later reality will have to kick in for the Republicans,” Reid said, pointing to the increasing number of Republicans who have agreed to raise revenues. - Read more at The Fiscal Times
BUT WHAT ABOUT US? Members of both parties are getting frustrated with Obama and Boehner for leaving them out of fiscal negotiations.
“There’s no transparent, democratic process at all — just a few people in a room — which I think they’ll intentionally draw out until the last day and then drop on us so there’s no time for debate, not only to keep us out of it but to keep the American people out of it,” said retiring Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., “It’s a very bad process and we shouldn’t be doing it,” he added. “It’s very frustrating.” - Read more at The Hill
