21 Dec 2012 8:00 am
'Plan B' Vote Spiked In House In Major Setback For Boehner House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) failed to muscle a controversial fiscal cliff fallback through the House Thursday night, suddenly pulling the bill after spending almost a week on a plan that Democrats called a waste of time. The failure to bring the measure to a vote kills Boehner's "Plan B" and moves the nation one large step closer to the so-called fiscal cliff looming on Jan. 1, when a combination of tax hikes and spending cuts are set to start kicking in. It also marks a major setback for Boehner, who was unable to marshal enough of his fractious, Tea Party-inspired members, even after he and other leaders had pledged earlier in the day that they would succeed. "The House did not take up the tax measure today because it did not have sufficient support from our members to pass," Boehner said in a statement. "Now it is up to the president to work with Senator Reid on legislation to avert the fiscal cliff. The House has already passed legislation to stop all of the January 1 tax rate increases and replace the sequester with responsible spending cuts that will begin to address our nation's crippling debt. The Senate must now act." "Merry Christmas," said Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) "There is a lump of coal in the president's box." "Our leadership team did the very best they could and it was just too big a hill to climb," said Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), who was among those who said he would have opposed the speaker's bill. Boehner adjourned the House until after Christmas, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) declared earlier Thursday that the Senate will recess Friday until two days after the holiday. [...] The House did pass one part of Boehner's fallback -- a bill to cut spending by $200 billion, mostly by slashing domestic programs, including favorite GOP targets such as health care and food stamps. That measure now appears doomed.