“Senate negotiations to craft a bipartisan budget deal proceeded in
chaotic fits and starts Sunday, raising new questions about whether
Congress would be able to steer the country away from the fiscal cliff,”
the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The center of gravity had shifted by day’s end after talks between
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) reached an impasse. Mr. McConnell instead struck
up talks with Vice President Joe Biden, a former Senate colleague with
whom he has worked on bipartisan budget deals in the past. The two men
planned to talk by phone into the night… No details of their
discussions were immediately available.”
Roll Call: “Efforts in the Senate to cut a last-minute bipartisan deal to avoid the
fiscal cliff’s tax increases and spending cuts continued Sunday evening
with little sign of an imminent breakthrough.”