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Obama meets congressional leaders to seek "fiscal cliff" solutions

29 December 2012 00:56 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. U.S. President Barack Obama discussed with top congressional leaders in the White House to find possible solutions to the so-called "fiscal cliff" on Friday afternoon, their last-ditch effort to avert the massive tax increases and steep government spending cuts starting on Jan. 1, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Obama hosted the bipartisan leadership of the Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker John Boehner and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the White House said.

This was the first time that Obama met these four congressional leaders to discuss on the "fiscal cliff" since November.

Obama cut short of his vacation in Hawaii and flew back to the White House Thursday, with the hope of reviving the stalled fiscal negotiations. Obama on Wednesday made phone calls to congressional leaders to get an update on the ongoing "fiscal cliff" negotiations.

Unless U.S. Congress acts by the end of the year, a combination of tax increases and sweeping spending cuts totaling about 600 billion dollars will kick in, the effects of which could thrust the economy back into recession.

Obama last week called on Congress to pass a pared-down deficit reduction plan of extending the current tax rates for all but the rich and extending the nation's unemployment benefits following the failure of the grand bargain talk with Boehner.

Obama on Friday did not make a new offer to congressional leaders at the hour-long meeting, but insisted on pushing higher income tax rates on annual income above 250,000 U.S. dollars and extending unemployment insurance that will prevent about 2 million people from losing unemployment benefits next year, local media reported.

Obama also requested an up-or-down vote on his proposal in Congress if Republicans could not provide a counter-proposal to resolve the looming "fiscal cliff." An up-or-down vote means U.S. lawmakers will vote directly on the bill at hand, which is often deliberated for a long time, rather than vote on a procedural measure.