The Norman Transcript

Headlines

Discussion

December 28, 2012

Obama welcomes cliff talk

The Associated Press Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A deadline looming, President Barack Obama will meet with congressional leaders at the White House today in search of a compromise to avoid a year-end “fiscal cliff” of across-the-board tax increases and spending cuts.

The development capped a day of growing urgency in which Obama returned early from a Hawaiian vacation while lawmakers snarled across a partisan divide over responsibility for gridlock on key pocketbook issues. Speaker John Boehner called the House back into session for a highly unusual Sunday evening session.

Adding to the woes confronting the middle class was a pending spike of $2 per gallon or more in milk prices if lawmakers failed to pass farm legislation.

Four days before the deadline, the White House disputed reports that Obama was sending lawmakers a scaled-down plan to avoid the fiscal cliff.

An aide to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said the Kentucky lawmaker “is eager to hear from the president.”

A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner issued a statement that said the Ohio Republican would attend and “continue to stress that the House has already passed legislation to avert the entire fiscal cliff and now the Senate must act.”

While there was no guarantee of a compromise, Republicans and Democrats said privately elements of any agreement would likely include an extension of middle class tax cuts with increased rates at upper incomes as well as cancellation of the scheduled spending cuts. An extension of expiring unemployment benefits, a reprieve for doctors who face a cut in Medicare payments and possibly a short-term measure to prevent dairy prices from soaring could also become part of a year-end bill, they said.

For local news and more, subscribe to The Norman Transcript Smart Edition, or our print edition.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Headlines
  • Oklahoma Tornado Expert: Schools need shelters

    Ninety-four percent of Oklahoma schools do not have tornado shelters, according to Gov. Mary Fallin, even though at least one weather expert says they should be standard. With two Moore schools destroyed in Monday’s EF-5 tornado — and ...

    May 24, 2013 1 Photo

  • Family shelter saves 11 lives

    MOORE — Ronnie and Sally Horn built their retirement home 15 years ago. It was a vision of comfort set against a wooded background. The yard was well manicured. The picket fence was white. The pond out back was as clear as any in Oklahoma. ...

    May 24, 2013

  • OU ready to keep victims all summer

    Juan Flores moved into the Walker Center dormitory Wednesday at the University of Oklahoma. He was shown to his new room, pre-furnished with a bed, desk and closet. He spent his first evening watching football on one of the communal TVs in ...

    May 24, 2013

  • Tornado took town’s youngest as it swept through Moore

    MOORE — One loved the spotlight. Another was nicknamed “The Wall” because of the force he brought to the soccer field. When a top-of-the-scale EF-5 tornado ripped through Moore, it took with it 24 lives. Seven of them were children at ...

    May 24, 2013

  • Sharing stories of survival

    MOORE — As Monday’s EF-5 tornado moved closer to Plaza Towers Elementary School, teacher Justin Ayers knew they were in its path. Ayers said all of the teachers at the site likely knew what was coming from television reports and they had ...

    May 25, 2013

  • Moore open for business

    Until an EF-5 tornado carved a path through the economic core of Moore on Monday, sales tax generated more than $2 million each month. In addition to damages, closed roads and utility outages forced many businesses to shut their doors. ...

    May 25, 2013

  • 5-year-old girl finds silver lining

    A twist of fate and the discovery of a cochlear implant from a Moore hospital damaged by Monday’s EF-5 tornado are part of the story of a precious 5-year-old girl. In December, Jayde Scholl was adopted by Tulsa audiologist Jacque Scholl. ...

    May 25, 2013

  • Remembering the victims

    Editor’s note: Profiles for tornado victims will be published as they are received. In addition to the Moore tornado victims, there were also two victims from the Sunday, May 18 tornado that touched down in eastern Cleveland County and ...

    May 25, 2013

  • Disaster central

    WASHINGTON — Many states get hit frequently with tornadoes and other natural catastrophes, but Oklahoma is Disaster Central. The twister that devastated Moore was the 74th presidential disaster declared in the Sooner state in the past 60 ...

    May 25, 2013

  • Okla. legislature adjourned early

    OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma lawmakers adjourned the 2013 Legislature on Friday one week earlier than required, wrapping up a session that saw Gov. Mary Fallin advance her agenda to reduce taxes and overhaul the state workers’ compensation ...

    May 25, 2013