The White House brought it's plan to avoid the fiscal cliff to Congressional leaders yesterday and Republicans immediately dismissed the proposal.
The plan calls for $1.6 trillion in new tax revenues, $400 billion in cuts to Medicare and other entitlements and $50 billion for a new stimulus. Also included was a condition that Congress would have to give up the right to vote on the debt limit.
Minority Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer joins Starting Point this morning to respond to the criticism the plan has received.
"Has the president offered a plan? He has. That's what they said they wanted. Let's see their plan. Let's see if it adds up," Hoyer says. "The reason [Boehner] hasn't come up with his list of preference items is because he knows he can't get the votes to do it, and, frankly, he doesn't politically want to propose it."
Rep. Hoyer also discusses Republicans' refusal to raise tax rates on the top 2% of Americans.
"We had an election and the president said we needed more revenues, and we needed more revenues from those most able to pay. He won the election," Hoyer says. "There were two very distinct points of view put forward to the American public...Obviously the American public made a judgment."
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