UPDATED: GOP Proposes New 'Fiscal Cliff' Offer To Obama - Spokane, North Idaho News & Weather KHQ.com

UPDATED: GOP Proposes New 'Fiscal Cliff' Offer To Obama

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WASHINGTON (AP) - House Republicans negotiating with President Barack Obama on avoiding the so-called fiscal cliff are proposing to increase the eligibility age for Medicare and to lower cost-of-living hikes in Social Security benefits.
    
The proposal is a response to Obama's offer last week to hike taxes by $1.6 trillion over the coming decade but to exempt Medicare and Social Security from cuts to beneficiaries.
    
The GOP plan also proposes to raise $800 billion in higher tax revenue over the decade but would keep the Bush-era tax cuts - including those for wealthier earners being targeted by Obama - in place for now.
    
House Speaker John Boehner said the GOP proposal is a "credible plan" for Obama and that he hopes the administration would "respond in a timely and responsible way."

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WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama and Republicans are playing a game of political chicken as the end-of-year deadline approaches for averting the "fiscal cliff," a combination of expiring tax reductions and across-the-board spending cuts.
    
Obama proposes $1.6 trillion in higher taxes over a decade and heightened presidential power to raise the debt limit. In exchange, Obama proposes $600 billion in spending cuts, including some to Medicare. He also wants $200 billion in new spending to support economic recovery.
    
Based on the rhetoric, an agreement may not come quickly.
    
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says Republicans don't have a plan and should say how much they're willing to raise taxes on the rich.
    
House Speaker John Boehner says Obama's plan isn't serious. He says Republicans have plenty of ideas, but he's not giving specifics.

(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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