Toomey again offers compromise plan to dodge ‘fiscal cliff’

Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey says it’s not too late to make a deal to avoid the “fiscal cliff.”

His plan may strike a familiar chord.

 

Remember the congressional super committee, tasked with reducing the deficit or sending the country hurtling toward a 2013 deadline triggering massive spending cuts and tax hikes?

Toomey was on the panel — the guy behind the plan that came closest to having bipartisan support.

It allowed for new revenues, but it also cut spending and made reforms Toomey says are key to facing the ballooning costs of programs such as Medicare.

Now, his plan is back, and Pennsylvania’s junior U-S Senator says some Democrats support it, while others are taking a wait-and-see approach.

“Most are much more cautious, but interested,” he said Monday.

Perhaps they are being “cautious” because Toomey’s plan still failed to make it out of the super committee.But it may be the best one they get.

Toomey says the president’s own proposal wasn’t serious, and Republicans won’t support higher tax rates for the wealthy unless other specific compromises follow.

President Obama insists that the Bush-era tax cuts for those earning less than $250,000 be kept in place while allowing the tax rate to increase for the nation’s wealthiest.