Rep. Israel sees Road Runner cartoon in fiscal cliff negotiations

Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) tweeted a cartoon comparison for ongoing "fiscal cliff" negotiations on Tuesday.

The chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said House Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) new offer to avoid the so-called "cliff" reminds him of a classic, if repetitive, Warner Brothers cartoon. 

Speaker Boehner's proposal is like an old episode of the Road Runner cartoon: Every day is a new cliff. #beentheredonethat

— Steve Israel (@RepSteveIsrael) December 18, 2012

President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), along with Israel and other Democrats, quickly rejected Boehner's latest offer, which would permanently extend tax rates on income below $1 million.

Boehner called it a "Plan B" in the event that current negotiations continue past the deadlines at the end of the year, when current George W. Bush-era tax rates expire and mandatory spending cuts are implemented. The debate over extending the tax rates has centered on Republicans' push to extend all tax rates, and Obama's push to allow rates applying to families making more than $250,000 annually to expire. Boehner's latest offer actually differs substantially from past refusals to consider raising taxes at all.

But the White House said the offer is not good enough, arguing it would never pass the Democratic-controlled Senate. Obama "is not willing to accept a deal that doesn’t ask enough of the very wealthiest in taxes and instead shifts the burden to the middle class and seniors," the White House press secretary said of Boehner's plan. 

“After spending months saying we must ask for more from millionaires and billionaires, how can they reject a plan that does exactly that? By once again moving the goal posts, the president is threatening every American family with higher taxes,” Boehner's spokesman Brendan Buck fired back.

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