Chautauqua County’s next representative in Congress says he’s not nearly as optimistic as he was last month that Congress and President Barack Obama will reach an agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff. Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning) – who won reelection in November – told reporters earlier this week that since President Obama put his proposal on the table last week, the mood in Washington has changed.
“Two to three weeks ago I was much more optimistic that we would avert this fiscal cliff, but this point in time I’m not as optimistic,” Reed said. “It’s clear to me that there may have been a political calculation made by the president and his team. They’re moving forward based solely on political posturing and I think they’re looking at it as a political gain, and that’s very troublesome.”
Reed says that president’s plan is nothing but raising revenue for the sake of revenue without any long-term plan in place to cut spending. In addition, he says the president’s plan would have an adverse impact on seniors. He says those are the two reasons why he does not support the president’s plan and he’s hoping a compromise can be reached between now and December 31.
While Congressman Reed has voiced his lack of faith that a deal can be struck by the end of this month, another U.S. Representative from Western New York says that there is still plenty of time to get a deal done. Democrat Congresswoman Louise Slaughter says the pressure is starting to build, and sometime in the next two weeks we should come to a conclusion. Slaughter made her comments recently to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle newspaper.
Both Slaughter and Reed are calling for a bipartisan solution. However, while Slaughter hopes Republicans will work with Democrats, Reed hopes Obama will work with Republicans.
If Congress doesn’t act, then all tax cuts will expire by the end of the year, which means all working Americans will start taking home less.
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