House passes spending cuts part of Boehner's alternative plan, tax part remains uncertain

Hearing scenario discussed wherein the sequester replacement bill passes the House, but not Boehner's original Plan B that includes tax hike
' @rebeccagberg via Tweetbot for iOS

That might be the scenario we're looking at. The House just passed, 215-209, the sequestration replacement bill, the big sweetener Speaker John Boehner used to try to bribe people into supporting his Plan B fiscal cliff curb. There were 21 Republicans who voted "no." No Democrats defected.

The Plan B vote is very, very tight for Boehner. The Hill is reporting that two dozen Republicans are solid "no" votes on the Plan B, which extends the Bush tax cuts for everyone except people making over $1 million to revert to Clinton-era levels. Also:

Plan B also sets at 20% the tax rates for capital gains and dividends on income higher than $1 million ' but keeps the current 15% rate for those making less than $1 million. Without a fiscal cliff agreement, rates on capital gains go up to a maximum of 23.8%. For dividends, rates go even higher, from 15% now to 43.4%.[...]

Boehner's bill would keep current rules on the estate tax, setting the exemption just north of $5 million with a top rate of 35%. That's compared to 55% without a fiscal-cliff deal. Obama would set the estate tax at 45% with a $3.5 million exemption.

So it's still a pretty good deal for millionaires. But maybe not a good enough deal for the fringe of the Republican extremist House. The vote on Boehner's tax plan will be at around 8:00 ET. Unless it takes him a lot longer to twist enough arms. Boehner could be heading for a very embarrassing loss.

4:17 PM PT: Or the vote won't take place in 45 minutes.  A few minutes ago, this happened.

House recesses subject to call of chair, not debating Plan B as scheduled. #fail
— @fshakir via TweetDeck

And then this:

Bad sign for votes for plan b? house just went into recess. Cantor just raced into boehnes office. And tim scott just told me he's undecided
— @DanaBashCNN via Twitter for BlackBerry®

Might be a long night for Boehner.

4:26 PM PT: Heh.

House now in recess subject to call of chair. Or as Barney Frank said just now, "subject to Santa Claus finding 218 votes for John Boehner."
— @feliciasonmez via Twitter for iPhone

I'm very sorry to see Barney go.

4:31 PM PT: This is gonna take a while.

Boehner calls special conference meeting at 7:45
— @dnewhauser via TweetDeck 4:36 PM PT: Boehner to Obama: Um, hey, are those Social Security cuts still for sale?
— @ryangrim via Twitter for iPhone 4:41 PM PT: Asked whether Republicans will can Plan B passed tonight, Rep Kay Granger, R-Texas, shook her head.
— @jonathanweisman via Twitter for iPhone 4:50 PM PT: Cantor on whether they would come back and vote tonight: "We'll see, we'll see." #fiscalcliff
— @ChadPergram via Twitter for BlackBerry®

4:57 PM PT: Ruh-roh

Hearing booing inside this emergency house gop meeting re scramble for votes on plan b.
— @DanaBashCNN via Twitter for BlackBerry®

5:01 PM PT: And, scene.

Holy wow. Gop source tell me house gop leaders pulling the plan b bill. Votes not there. Devastating news for boehner
— @DanaBashCNN via Twitter for BlackBerry®

If confirmed, this is a huge misstep by Boehner.