Tagged: Fiscal Cliff

Kentucky's senior U.S. Senator finds himself the target of online ads run by a conservative group. The ads, bought by the group ForAmerica, criticize Republican Mitch McConnell for his role in the recent negotiations over the fiscal cliff.

Politico reports the ads read "Mitch McConnell: Whose side are you on?", along with a picture of McConnell wedged between President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

Last-minute negotiations between Biden and McConnell reportedly helped break the impasse between Democrats and Republicans as time was running out to get a deal in place before huge spending cuts and tax increases went into effect.

Politico previously reported McConnell viewed the recent fiscal cliff deal as a way for Republicans to gain future leverage against Democrats and the White House.

The "fiscal cliff" deal approved by the U.S. House and Senate over the weekend was crafted by two men on mostly opposite ends of the political spectrum: Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell and Vice President Joe Biden.

According to a report in Politico, McConnell decided to work with the White House on the deal  because Kentucky's senior Senator believed it would help the GOP gain future leverage in entitlement negotiations, and prevent President Obama from being able to castigate Republicans as the party that held tax cuts for the middle class hostage in behalf of the richest Americans.

Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell is reportedly signaling that he and fellow GOP Senators are open to a strategy that would likely lead to the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts for the nation’s highest earners. The website Politico is reporting McConnell talked about Senate Republican strategy late last week during a dinner in Washington with lobbyists.

Citing multiple sources in the room, Politico reporters say McConnell told those in attendance that Senate Republicans were looking to take a “two-bill strategy” to resolving the fiscal cliff crisis. Under such a plan, two different bills would be advanced in Congress, giving each party the chance to vote on the approach they favored, while knowing only one measure will actually be signed into law.

Poltico reports McConnell suggested he believed Senate Republicans could support a bill that renewed the Bush-era tax cuts for all but the top 2% of wage-earners, and increased taxes on capital gains and dividends from 15% to 20%. At the same time, the GOP-led House would pass a second bill that would extend the Bush tax cuts for all Americans. Such a move could possibly allow House Republicans to save face with supporters who are against raising any taxes.