Obama To Meet With Hill's Top Leaders, Tax Cuts On The Agenda

Speaker-in-waiting John Boehner (R-Ohio), current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will make their way to the White House today to meet with President Obama and are expected to begin deliberations regarding the future of the Bush-era tax cuts. 

President Obama and Democrats are hoping for successful negotiations to prevent hiking taxes on America’s families making less than $250,000 a year. Since tax breaks are scheduled to expire at the end of this year, Republicans have gained clout in their efforts to ensure tax cuts be extended for all Americans, including those making in excess of $250,000 a year, a staple Democrats have tried to avoid but may give in to by the year’s end. 

“I think this is the beginning of a… I don’t think this will be the last conversation this group will have on taxes this year,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told the press Monday. “The President is clear, and I think many are clear, that we have to address this problem before the end of the year.”

Boehner and McConnell expressed enthusiasm in working with Democrats moving forward in an Op-Ed published in the Washington Post, but both made clear that Democrats will need to reorganize their agenda. 

“We can work together and accomplish these things, but the White House and Democratic leaders in Congress first will have to prioritize,” the GOP duo wrote. “It’s time to choose struggling middle-class families and small businesses over the demands of the liberal base. It’s time to get serious.”