Careening Toward The Cliff

Gary L. Bauer

American Values

Tis the season for miracles, and it may take one at this stage to prevent the country from going over the fiscal cliff. Last night, Speaker John Boehner was forced to pull his "Plan B" off the House floor after a revolt by conservative members of his caucus. All day long the GOP leadership team had expressed confidence. But on the eve of the vote it was obvious they would come up short.

Politico reports that Speaker Boehner convened a meeting of the GOP caucus last night and quoted the Serenity Prayer: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." Unable to change the minds of House conservatives and sell a plan that was already dead on arrival in the Senate, Boehner issued the following statement:

"The House did not take up the tax measure today because it did not have sufficient support from our members to pass. Now it is up to the president to work with Senator Reid on legislation to avert the fiscal cliff. The House has already passed legislation to stop all of the January 1 tax rate increases and replace the sequester with responsible spending cuts that will begin to address our nation's crippling debt. The Senate must now act."

With that news, the House adjourned for the Christmas holiday. The Senate is not scheduled to come back until Thursday, December 27th.