At his weekly press briefing Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid criticized House Speaker John Boehner for looking for a way out of budget negotiations with the White House.
“Plan B calls for sending us a bill that, the only thing will be in it is raising taxes on people who make over a million dollars,” Reid said. “If that’s not walking away, I don’t know what walking away is…. I was happy to see the last statement that Boehner made at his press foray where he said negotiations are not closed. I talked to the President at a quarter to one today, he hasn’t heard a word from Boehner.”
Other Democrats are also trying to yank Boehner back into negotiations, and wedge him from House conservatives.
“News this morning of Speaker Boehner offering his ‘Plan B’ is yet another example of House Republicans walking away from negotiations on a big deal to avert the fiscal cliff and reduce the deficit in a balanced way,” said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), House Dems’ top budget guy, in a statement to reporters. “By pushing this totally lopsided approach, the GOP is once again trying to minimize the impact on the wealthiest in our country and maximize the burden borne by working families.”
