On the floor Wednesday morning, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said Democrats will introduce a sequester replacement plan later this week and called on Republicans to stop ruling out new revenues from affluent Americans as part of the deal.
From Reid’s remarks:
Democrats believe we should replace this harsh austerity with a balanced approach that targets wasteful spending and tax loopholes, and asks the wealthiest among us to contribute a little more to reduce the deficit. The American people know we can’t cut our way to prosperity. They agree we cannot ask the middle class to bear the entire burden of deficit reduction.
Later this week, Democrats will introduce a plan to avert the so-called sequester.
Republicans say they agree the deep cuts they voted for would be damaging to our economy and to national security. But they would rather cut Medicare, education and medical research than close a single wasteful tax loophole or ask a single millionaire to contribute more. They should stop protecting millionaires, billionaires and wealthy corporations, and start working with us to pass an alternative to these terrible cuts that protects the middle class.
