I've been laying off the fiscal cliff talk lately because it's difficult to know what exactly is happening behind the scenes. Specifically, there's no accurate way of telling what's serious and what's a ploy. But this is for real:
Republicans have rejected President Obama’s opening budget bid.
In a Capitol meeting with House Speaker John Boehner Thursday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner submitted the Obama administration’s proposal for addressing medium term deficits, and avoiding across the board tax increases and spending cuts at the end of the year.
Republicans called the proposal outlandish and brushed it aside as unserious.
Here's a look at the offer they're rejecting as unserious. Greg Sargent:
It gives Republicans $400 billion in Medicare cuts, but demand $1.6 trillion in tax hikes, and, crucially, more stimulus spending and an extension of unemployment benefits.