WASHINGTON — House Speaker John Boehner signaled on Friday he's still open to negotiations with President Barack Obama on avoiding across-the-board tax increases set to hit taxpayers Jan. 1, but sounded pessimistic about reaching a grand deal with the president.
"How we get there, God only knows," Boehner told a Capitol Hill news conference just hours after his rank-and-file handed him a stunning tactical defeat.
The Republican leader was forced by his members to abandon legislation that would have raised taxes on millionaires. "We didn't have the votes to pass it," Boehner said glumly.
AP
Speaker of the House John Boehner, joined by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, speaks to reporters about fiscal cliff negotiations at the Capitol in Washington today.
In the aftermath, Boehner said any deal with the president to avoid the looming "fiscal cliff" would require more compromise by Obama and greater involvement of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and the minority leader, Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
"I'm interested in solving the major problems that face our country," Boehner said. "And that means House leaders, Senate leaders and the president are going to continue to have to work together to address those concerns."
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., who stood by Boehner's side, said, "We stand ready to continue in dialogue with this president to actually fix the problem."
Boehner dismissed suggestions that the embarrassment late Thursday night over the legislation would cost him his speakership, second in line to the presidency.
"While we may have not been able to get the votes last night to avert 99.81 percent of the tax increases, I don't think — they weren't taking that out on me," he said. "They were dealing with the perception that somebody might accuse them of raising taxes."
Obama has said he will press ahead with Congress in search of a deal.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama's "main priority is to ensure that taxes don't go up on 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small businesses," citing statistics associated with Obama's campaign promise to increase top tax rates on households earning more than $250,000 a year.
"The president will work with Congress to get this done and we are hopeful that we will be able to find a bipartisan solution quickly that protects the middle class and our economy," Carney said. Pointedly, the statement didn't say whether Obama would work with Boehner to revive stalled talks or turn first to the Democratic-controlled Senate to try to salvage the situation.
Boehner's attempt to retreat from a longstanding promise to maintain Bush-era tax rates for all was designed to gain at least some leverage against Obama and Senate Democrats in the fiscal cliff endgame. Thursday's drama was a major personal defeat for the speaker, who retains the respect and affection of his tea party-infused conference, but sometimes has great difficulty getting them to follow his leadership.
Boehner says he's open to negotiations with President Obama on avoiding 'fiscal cliff'
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Boehner says he's open to negotiations with President Obama on avoiding 'fiscal cliff'
