The top Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives says it is now up to President Barack Obama to work with the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on a plan to avert a year-end crisis that analysts say could plunge the economy into recession.
House Speaker John Boehner issued the statement late Thursday, shortly after House Republican leaders abruptly put off a vote on his proposal that would have let tax rates rise for those earning $1 million or more. Boehner said he did not have enough support to pass the measure, although earlier in the day he had predicted victory.
A vote would have been largely symbolic. Leaders in the Democratic-controlled Senate said Boehner's plan had no chance of passing in that chamber.
Also, President Barack Obama, who wants a tax break extended only up to the $400,000 income level, had vowed to veto the measure even if both houses of Congress passed it.
Senate Democrats have already passed a bill that raises taxes on income higher than $250,000. They have said this is the plan they want from Boehner in the House.
It is unlikely that there will be any more House action until lawmakers return from their break for the December 25 Christmas holiday.
Earlier in the week, the president said he and Boehner were relatively close to an agreement on a compromise to avert what Washington is calling a "fiscal cliff" - $500 billion in mandated spending cuts and tax increases that would affect almost all American workers starting January 1.
Obama released a statement late Thursday saying his main priority is to work with Congress to find a bipartisan solution "to ensure that taxes don't go up on 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small businesses in just a few days."
Throughout the debate on taxes and spending, Democrats have favored raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans while Republicans have insisted on cutting funds for social programs in order to cut federal debt.
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