–House Speaker: No ‘High Expectations’ About Fiscal Deal This Year
–House Will Pass A Bill To Replace Sequestration

By John Shaw

WASHINGTON (MNI) – House Speaker John Boehner said Tuesday the
House will pass legislation this year to extend current tax rates that
were created by the Bush era tax cuts and he urged the Senate to pass
companion legislation to do the same.

In an interview on CNBC, Boehner said it’s important for Congress
to act in the coming months to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff at the
end of the year. This refers to the expiration of the Bush era tax cuts
at the end of 2012 and the across-the-board spending cuts that are
scheduled to begin in January of 2013.

Boehner signalled deep concern that these issues will be delayed
until after the November elections, and said resolving complex fiscal
issues between early November and late December will be very difficult
and could easily lead to a “train wreck.”

“I shouldn’t have high expectations,” Boehner said of
end-of-the-year negotiations on taxes and spending.

Boehner said the House will pass legislation before the November
election to retain the Bush-era tax cuts and to replace the first year
of the scheduled across-the-board spending cuts.

“The House is prepared to act,” he said.

Boehner said he expects very “consequential” actions in the next
several years to deal with the nation’s growing deficits and debt.

“It is a real concern and a real problem,” Boehner said about the
nation’s massive budget deficits and the growing cost of entitlement
programs.

“Rome is burning to the ground,” he said, adding that enacting
“real controls on spending” and boosting economic growth are needed to
control budget deficits.

“There are a lot of options” to reform Social Security, Medicare
and Medicaid, Boehner said.

Boehner said he expects fiscal issues to be a key part of the 2012
presidential and congressional campaigns. The “two really big issues”
for 2013 will be proposals to control budget deficits and to overhaul
the entire tax code — both the corporate and individual parts of the
code.

Boehner said he is concerned the U.S. economy is losing steam and
cited the economic struggles of Europe and fiscal and regulatory
uncertainty in the U.S. as key reasons for this.

“I think the economy is slowing,” Boehner said, adding that
Europe’s economic woes are having a “very big impact” on the American
economy.

** MNI Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 **

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