[h=3]By JANET HOOK[/h]House Republicans on Monday made a new deficit proposal to the White House that calls for $800 billion in tax increases, half of what President Barack Obama proposed and an amount Republicans say could be achieved without increasing tax rates
The proposal, a bid to jump-start stalled negotiations on averting the fiscal cliff—a package of tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect in January—is based on a deficit-cutting plan described by Erskine Bowles during a 2011 effort to come up with a deficit-reduction deal.
It would cut about $4.6 trillion from the deficit over ten years, including $600 billion in savings from Medicare and other health programs—substantially more than what the president proposed—and a change in the way cost-of-living increases are calculated in Social Security and other inflation-adjusted programs.
"What we are putting forth is a credible plan that deserves serious consideration by the White House," said House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) in a briefing for reporters. The proposal was made in a letter sent to the White House.
The proposal represents an effort to strike a middle ground after the White House last week infuriated Republicans by making an opening bid in the budget talks largely summarizing the president's most recent budget proposal.
In their counteroffer, Republicans didn't say they would accept Mr. Obama's bottom-line demand that income-tax rates be raised on the top two income brackets. GOP aides describing the plan said they believed the proposed $800 billion revenue target could be met without raising rates, by closing loopholes and deductions in a broad rewrite of the tax code.
The White House declined to comment.
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The proposal, a bid to jump-start stalled negotiations on averting the fiscal cliff—a package of tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect in January—is based on a deficit-cutting plan described by Erskine Bowles during a 2011 effort to come up with a deficit-reduction deal.
It would cut about $4.6 trillion from the deficit over ten years, including $600 billion in savings from Medicare and other health programs—substantially more than what the president proposed—and a change in the way cost-of-living increases are calculated in Social Security and other inflation-adjusted programs.
"What we are putting forth is a credible plan that deserves serious consideration by the White House," said House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) in a briefing for reporters. The proposal was made in a letter sent to the White House.
The proposal represents an effort to strike a middle ground after the White House last week infuriated Republicans by making an opening bid in the budget talks largely summarizing the president's most recent budget proposal.
In their counteroffer, Republicans didn't say they would accept Mr. Obama's bottom-line demand that income-tax rates be raised on the top two income brackets. GOP aides describing the plan said they believed the proposed $800 billion revenue target could be met without raising rates, by closing loopholes and deductions in a broad rewrite of the tax code.
The White House declined to comment.
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