A deal to solve America's looming "fiscal cliff" of tax hikes and deep budget cuts appears to be out of reach, after John Boehner and the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives were humiliated in a night of high drama in Congress.
After confidently predicting that Boehner's 'plan B' bill extending the Bush-era tax cuts for all but millionaires would pass, yesterday evening the Speaker of the House was forced to back down and abandon its ill-conceived ploy to put pressure on the White House.
Boehner's office has announced that the Speaker will hold a press conference at 10am ET – and the Speaker's statement will be the first indication of how he plans to act as time ticks away.
Last night's debacle exposed the weakness of Boehner's grip on the members of his own party in the House, as well as the incoherence of his attempt to force conservatives to support tax increases by voting for a bill that had no chance of passage.
The Guardian's Ewen MacAskill reports:
The bill Boehner had been proposing to pass, the so-called 'Plan B', was primarily tactical, with no chance of ever becoming legislation. The Democratic-controlled Senate would have killed it and, on the remote chance of it making it out of Congress, Obama said he would veto it.
The main aim of the 'Plan B' bill was to provide some cover for the Republicans so they would not get all of the blame if taxes go up.
Late last night Boehner told the Republican caucus that he did not have the votes to pass the measure, and abruptly put the House into recess, telling his members to go home for Christmas.
Where that leaves negotiations on a deal to resolve the fiscal cliff is anyone's guess – and the subject of today's activities in Washington.
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