Obama administration says it would veto Boehner’s budget bill

Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, joined by the Republican leadership speaks to reporters about the fiscal cliff negotiations with President Obama following a private strategy session, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012.
Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, joined by the Republican leadership speaks to reporters about the fiscal cliff negotiations with President Obama following a private strategy session, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012.

— President Barack Obama would veto a tax and spending proposal presented by House Speaker John Boehner because it would put “too big a burden on the middle class,” White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said.

“Millionaires would see a tax break of $50,000, while eliminating tax cuts that 25 million students and families struggling to make ends meet depend on,” Pfeiffer said in a statement Wednesday. It also would “deeply” cut Medicare, he said.

The House may vote Thursday on Boehner’s “Plan B,” which would raise tax rates on income of more than $1 million, rather than the $400,000 threshold the president proposed in his latest offer.

With his push for a vote on his proposal, Boehner is looking to pressure Obama to accept deeper spending cuts and a higher threshold for rate increases by showing how hard it will be to win Republican support for any tax increase. Unless Congress acts, more than $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts will begin next month.

“Right now we need to do something to get the president’s attention,” Rep. Frank Lucas, an Oklahoma Republican, said in an interview. Boehner’s approach “might just help,” he said.

Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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