And the tea party shitshow fail parade continues at full speed:
House Speaker John Boehner’s proposal to avert the looming fiscal cliff’s automatic tax increases has failed to get enough Republican support, throwing yet another monkey wrench into the contentious debate.
Boehner said earlier Thursday that he was confident that his so-called Plan B — which would extend tax cuts that are set to expire at year’s end for most people while allowing rates to increase to 1990s levels on income over $1 million — would pass the House, and in the process put pressure on President Barack Obama and the Democratic-controlled Senate. But that gambit seemed in doubt Thursday, as Republican leaders struggled to get all their members to sign on, knowing the chamber’s Democrats oppose it.
GOP leaders could be seen working the House floor earlier Thursday, trying to convince their party colleagues. Sen. Rob Portman was one of them, telling reporters that he and other Republican senators had been asked to come over and make their pitch.
Around 8 p.m., House Majority Leader Eric Cantor announced that the measure would not go up for a vote as planned. His office later said legislative business was finished for the week and could return to work after Christmas if needed.
Boehner’s days as speaker are numbered, and the best part of all of this is that we will go over the cliff and all the leverage will be in Obama’s court.