Pelosi blames Boehner for fiscal cliff

The House Democratic leader's remarks came after Boehner expressed doubt that a fiscal cliff deal will be reached.

Elahe Izadi,
National Journal

September 11, 2012

Elahe Izadi

National Journal

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi Tuesday afternoon jumped on House Speaker John Boehner's comment this morning that he is "not confident at all" that a fiscal cliff deal will be reached, suggesting that the gridlock is due to Republican "intransigence and partisan obstructionism."

"With our nation inching closer to the 'fiscal cliff,' Speaker Boehner's lack of determination to reach an agreement is due to his party's intransigence and partisan obstructionism," Pelosi said in a statement.

"The ball is in Speaker Boehner's court. Instead of going out for seven weeks, we call upon Speaker Boehner to work with Democrats across the aisle to restore fiscal responsibility with a balanced approach, create jobs, return fairness to our economy, and strengthen the middle class," Pelosi said.

There have been no serious negotiations and Moody's warned Tuesday that should Congress not reach an agreement, it would downgrade the United States' credit rating.

For his part, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he was "disappointed [that] my friend John Boehner said that he has no confidence."

"I think we can avoid a cutoff and help 98 percent of Americans who deserve a middle class tax cut," he said. "It's much, much too early to give up. I'm not going to give up."

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