Pelosi to Boehner: Put up or shut up

Pelosi sets Boehner straight. After House Speaker John Boehner's brief floor speech Tuesday, during which he asserted that President Obama has come to the fiscal cliff curb negotiations with nothing but a demand for higher taxes, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi took the floor to set the record straight.

Pelosi said the biggest challenge in the fiscal cliff talks is to ensure the middle class is not hurt by tax increases or cuts to needed government services. But she said Republicans have focused only on spending cuts, and have ignored the idea of higher taxes.

"Where are the revenues?" she asked on the floor. "Regardless of the cuts' more is demanded in terms of what seniors would have to pay into Medicare and what age that would happen, while the Republicans refuse to touch one hair on the head of the wealthiest people in our country." [...]

"What stands in the way is an act on the part of Republican majority to bring a middle class tax cut to the floor of the House," Pelosi said.

There have been no specific offers on revenues from Republicans, beyond vague talk of closing loopholes and lots of mumbling from a handful of supposedly brave Republicans about the need to recognize something, something, revenue.

It's absolutely true that they can do one thing, right now. They can vote on the already passed Senate bill to give certainty to the middle class, to extend just those tax cuts. All that they have to do is sign the Democrats' discharge petition to bring the bill to the floor.

Tell your representative to sign the discharge petition and take the vote. If they've already signed, you can thank them here.