With less than three months to go, President Barack Obama has yet to open discussions with House Speaker John Boehner on how to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff.”
The pair last talked about the pending economic meltdown back in July, Boehner told House Republicans on Wednesday, Politico reports. The two men — their parties’ most powerful elected representatives — have only spoken once since then, and that was about foreign policy.
And there is little chance that the talks will start before the Nov. 6 election, leaving the two leaders just eight weeks to sort out the nation’s most pressing economic issue.
If nothing is done before January 1, $1.1 trillion of automatic spending cuts will come into effect under sequestration provisions agreed to by both Democrats and Republicans when they were looking ways to cut the federal deficit.
Tax cuts introduced by George W. Bush will expire at the same time, leading to predictions of a huge economic slowdown in the country.
The GOP-controlled House has passed legislation to avoid the automatic cuts and the tax increases. However, Boehner pointed out during his conference call, the Democrat-controlled Senate has not acted.
“It’s all about the election,”
Politico quoted Boehner as saying, adding that he told his colleagues “to expect a busy November and December.”
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