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November 29, 2012

Geithner to Meet with Congressional Leaders for Talks on "Fiscal Cliff" 
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Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is meeting for talks with
Congressional leaders today over a possible deal to avert the so-called
fiscal cliff. The White House has signaled it may be willing to accept
cuts to Medicare and other social programs as part of an agreement with
Republicans to avoid the looming tax cuts and spending increases set to
kick in at the end of the year. On Wednesday, Obama appeared optimistic
about a potential deal.

President Obama: "Our ultimate goal is an agreement that gets our
long-term deficit under control in a way that is fair and balanced. I
believe that both parties can agree on a framework that does that in the
coming weeks. In fact, my hope is to get this done before Christmas."

Obama is touting a plan that includes taxes on the wealthiest Americans,
but Republican House Speaker John Boehner has continued to reject tax
hikes for the wealthy.

John Boehner: "You are not going to grow the economy if you raise taxes
on the top two rates. It will hurt small businesses; it will hurt our
economy. That is why this is not the right approach. We are willing to
put revenue on the table, as long as we are not raising rates."

 

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