No progress in U.S. 'fiscal cliff' talks as new poll hits Republicans

Agencies : Washington, Thu Dec 13 2012, 13:13 hrs

Ads by Google

Top Stories

Sharp differences remained on Wednesday between congressional Republicans and the White House in talks to avert the "fiscal cliff" of steep tax hikes and budget cuts, and negotiators warned the showdown could drag on past Christmas.

A Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll released late on Wednesday, however, held the potential to shake up the stalemate. Three-quarters of those surveyed, including 61 percent of Republicans, said they would accept raising taxes on the wealthy to avoid the so-called cliff, as Democratic President Barack Obama is demanding.

FREE GUIDES AND REPORTS FROM DIANOMI

Top 10 Retirement Tips

Top 10 Retirement Tips - Special 16 page guide

Download Free Guide

With Republicans in Congress already divided, that rejection by their own supporters of the core demand of Republican House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner could further weaken his position.

Both sides refused to give any ground in public, one day after what Boehner described as a "frank" conversation with President Barack Obama about the remaining hurdles to a deal.

Boehner said Obama's latest proposal for $1.4 trillion (867.4 billion pounds) in new tax revenues did not fulfil his promise for a balanced approach to taming the federal deficit and could not pass Congress.

"I remain the most optimistic person in this town, but we've got some serious differences," Boehner told reporters after a meeting with House Republicans where he warned members the negotiations could run through the holidays and up to the end-of-year deadline.

If a deal is not reached, taxes will go up for almost all working Americans at the start of the New Year and steep government spending cuts will kick in.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama would not relent on his demand that Republicans drop their opposition to raising new revenue by increasing the tax rates for the wealthiest 2 percent of all Americans.

... contd.

Page : 1 2 3 Single Page Format

Ads by Google

ALSO READ

China's industrial profits grew 12.1 per cent in the first quarter this year from a year ago. (Reuters)

China Q1 factory profits up 12.1%

Apple Inc's shares fell below $400 on Wednesday for the first time since December 2011. (Reuters)

Supplier woes stir Apple demand fears, stock drops below $400

Japan's exports to China fell 9.1% in fiscal 2012, while its exports to rest of Asia fell almost 42%. (Reuters)

Japan logs record $83.4 billion trade deficit in FY2012

Thousands of passengers were stranded at airports and on airplanes. (Reuters)

American Airlines halts flights, passengers stuck

Please read our terms of use before posting comments

TERMS OF USE: The views, opinions and comments posted are your, and are not endorsed by this website. You shall be solely responsible for the comment posted here. The website reserves the right to delete, reject, or otherwise remove any views, opinions and comments posted or part thereof. You shall ensure that the comment is not inflammatory, abusive, derogatory, defamatory &/or obscene, or contain pornographic matter and/or does not constitute hate mail, or violate privacy of any person (s) or breach confidentiality or otherwise is illegal, immoral or contrary to public policy. Nor should it contain anything infringing copyright &/or intellectual property rights of any person(s).