PHILADELPHIA -
President Barack Obama brings his fight against the "fiscal cliff" to Montgomery County on Friday.
With just about a month to go, and based on what we're hearing now from both the White House and Republicans in Congress, an agreement may be getting less and less likely.
The president will visit a small business in Hatfield. He wants to use it as an example of the types of companies he says will be hurt if lawmakers don't stop the series of tax increases and spending cuts from going into effect Jan. 1.
Call it an opening bid, or a bombshell. Either way, the president's plan to stave off the fiscal cliff – the broad-based tax hikes and spending cuts at the end of the year – appears to have shocked Republicans in Congress.
The GOP says it calls for: $1.6 trillion in new tax hikes over the next decade, most of which would hit wealthy earners; another dose of stimulus spending; and the spending cuts that both sides say are necessary to reduce the deficit, the president would largely tackle those later, perhaps next year.
Republican congressional leaders are accusing Democrats of moving the nation closer to the fiscal cliff by refusing to outline possible spending cuts.
After a meeting with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on Thursday, House Speaker John Boehner said there has been no substantive progress and no specific plan from the White House.
"I'm disappointed in where we are and disappointed in what's happened over last couple of weeks," Boehner said. "I'm here seriously trying to resolve it, and I would hope the White House would get serious as well."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, said, "We're insisting on keeping tax rates where they are, first and foremost, to protect jobs and because we don't think government needs the money in the first place."
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said, "The President has made clear from the start that he understands that he will not get every item in this proposal or in his budget proposal, that compromise requires tough choices from all sides."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says Democrats are still waiting for a serious offer from Republicans.
