Tom Reed
CORNING – Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning) says he is optimistic the country will be able to avoid falling of the widely reported “Fiscal Cliff” – so long as both sides of the aisle in congress can work together. During his weekly conference call with local media, Chautauqua County’s incoming representative in the house said now that the elections are over, its time for lawmakers to get serious about the budget challenges.
“We’ll make sure that we do our part to find as much common ground, bring people together and really try to lead, so we can get to that point in which we can set the table for long-term resolutions, but also to address this immediate threat to our economy and to our jobs,” Reed said.
Reed said that specifically, he thinks that a looming tax increase set to go into effect January 1, 2013 can be avoided if both sides find common ground. However, he added that any comprehensive tax reform may take more time to accomplish, but a short-term fix can be achieved in the next month and a half during the lame duck session of congress.
“We’re going to be a voice to try and bring people together to avoid it,” he said. “But at the same time we do need to set the table for comprehensive tax reform. If there is an opportunity to do it in lame duck, I will be a voice to support that, but I just don’t practically foresee that. What I see is us setting the table for 2013 and a firm commitment by all sides to make sure that we do comprehensive tax reform on a permanent, long-term basis, but I don’t see that coming out of the lame duck session.”
President Barack Obama will met with house and senate leadership later this week to begin making decisions on the budget. The two sides will have 46 days before the nation risks plunging over the “fiscal cliff” — a pileup of scheduled tax increases and spending cuts that threaten to drain $560 billion out of the economy next year and derail any recovery.
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