Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) accused the White House Friday of trying to “slow-walk” the fiscal cliff negotiations.
Boehner said there was “no progress” in the talks just three weeks before tax hikes and spending cuts kick in and expressed frustration that President Obama hasn’t made a counteroffer to the GOP’s proposal of $800 billion in new tax revenue as part of a $2.2 trillion deficit reduction plan.
“This isn’t a progress report, because there’s no progress to report,” Boehner said in a brief press conference at the Capitol.
He said the White House had “wasted another week” by not responding to House Republicans.
Boehner spoke to Obama by phone on Wednesday and their staffs talked on Thursday.
“The phone call was pleasant, but it was more of the same,” he said.
The chief sticking point remains the president’s insistence that tax rates rise for the wealthy, which Republicans continue to oppose on the grounds that it will hurt job-creation more than raising revenue through other means.
“Nothing is going to be possible if the president insists on his position,” Boehner said, characterizing Obama’s stance as “my-way-or-the-highway.”
For more on Boehner's comments, click here.
