President Obama will host Congressional leaders at the White House on Friday in hopes of reaching a deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff, the White House and House Speaker John Boehner’s office announced Thursday. Vice President Biden will also attend the meeting.
“Tomorrow, Speaker Boehner will attend a meeting with congressional leaders at the White House, where he will continue to stress that the House has already passed legislation to avert the entire fiscal cliff and now the Senate must act,” a Boehner aide said in an email.
The fiscal pow wow could be the last of such orchastrated affairs before the country goes over the fiscal cliff — or before a major set of automatic tax increases and spending cuts kick in at the start of the new year.
The House is expected to reconvene in Washington for “votes” on Sunday evening, Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s office announced, presumably in anticipation of a yet to be reached deal that could be approved with enough time before the deadline Monday night.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid remained less than optimistic on Thursday, declaring that America is heading over the cliff and placing the blame squarely at House Speaker John Boehner’s feet.
“The American people are waiting for the ball to drop, but it’s not going to be a good drop. Because Americans’ taxes are approaching the wrong direction,” he said on the Senate floor. “Come the first of this year, Americans will have less income than they have today. If we go over the cliff, and it looks like that’s where we’re headed, the House of Representatives — as we speak with four days left after today before the first of the year — aren’t here. … I can’t imagine their consciences.”
