Influence Alley

Top Story

Why A Fiscal Cliff Deal Is Still Possible

December 20, 2012

It’s not looking good as the country careens toward a year-end fiscal cliff that would mean hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes and across-the-board spending cuts starting next year. But there is still plenty of time, and opportunity, for Speaker Boehner and President Obama to strike a deal. Here’s why.

Congress

How Boehner's Plan B Vote Imploded

Plan B, the fiscal cliff tax proposal that would extend the Bush tax cuts on income for those who earn $1 million or less and that Boehner said earlier Thursday would pass, failed to win enough support in the Republican Conference. The vote was canceled and lawmakers were free to leave for Christmas.

People

House Conservatives in the Mood for Gumbo, Not Plan B

There were at least 20 members notably absent from the hastily called GOP conference where House Speaker John Boehner announced he didn't have the votes for Plan B.

Leadership

Exodus of Baucus Staff

The Chairman of Senate Finance is losing his top tax people from both his personal and committee staff, expertise that will hurt if the committee plunges ahead with tax reform in 2013.

More From This Issue

INFLUENCE: Cantor Aide Mike Ference to Join S-3 Group as Partner

Majority Leader Eric Cantor's senior policy advisor Mike Ference will join Shockey Scofield Solutions as a partner, the firm announced Thursday.

CONGRESS: Ethics Panel Clears Meeks in Loan Probe

The House Ethics Committee has closed its long-running probe into Rep. Gregory Meeks, announcing it will impose no penalties or sanctions against the New York Democrat.

CONGRESS: Pentagon Would Cut Thousands of Jobs Under New Bill

The Pentagon will have to shrink its civilian and contractor workforces by thousands of jobs during the next five years under a provision in the fiscal 2013 Defense authorization bill that House and Senate conference negotiators approved on Tuesday evening.

INFLUENCE: Today's Influence Ads: Aerospace Industries Warn Against Sequestration

The Aerospace Industries Association put human faces on the "political games" afoot in Washington in a new ad Monday, reminding negotiators that sequestration would jeopardize national security with a chess-themed ad.