By Katie LaPotin and Laura Byrne
President Barack Obama met with Vice President Biden and several Congressional leaders in the Oval Office on Friday afternoon to discuss plans to prevent the country from falling off the so-called ‘fiscal cliff’ on Tuesday.
The Congressional leaders in attendance at the meeting were Speaker of the House John Boehner, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, according to a White House aide. It is believed that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was also in attendance at the meeting.
Obama said in a press conference after the meeting that it was “constructive” but that no agreement had been made, even as the Dec. 31 deadline looms.
“Senators Reid and McConnell are working on such an agreement as we speak,” Obama explained. The President is “optimistic” a “bipartisan agreement” will be made.
McConnell and Reid echoed Obama’s statement following their negotiations. The Senate Minority Leader said he was “hopeful and optimistic” about striking a deal. Reid expressed similar feelings, saying after the meeting, “The Republican leader and I and our staffs are working and we’ll see what we can come up with.”
If Reid and McConnell do not come to an agreement, Obama proposed his own Plan B that he believes will pass through both the Senate and the House. “If an agreement isn’t reached in time, I will urge Senator Reid to bring a basic package for an up or down vote,” the President said.
“I expect a bill to be put on the floor to make sure taxes on the middle class don’t go up,” he continued.
Republicans and Democrats have been struggling to create a deal for months now that would prevent the effects of the Budget Control Act of 2011 from taking place. If no deal is made by Tuesday, hard-working Americans will see their taxes increase and the nation’s defense industry will be ruined by sequestration cuts. Trading on Wall Street has soured as a result of the uncertainty over the situation.
“The economy’s growing but sustaining that trend is going to require elected officials do their job,” Obama said. “American people are not going to have any patience for a politically self-inflicted wound.”
