WASHINGTON -- This is probably not how members of Congress planned to spend New Year's Eve - waiting in Capitol offices and coffee shops to find out if Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell can work out a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff. For some, there's still uncertainty whether they can support a compromise...
WASHINGTON -- This is probably not how members of Congress planned to spend New Year's Eve - waiting in Capitol offices and coffee shops to find out if Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell can work out a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff.
Rep. Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia, is spending his last few days as a member of Congress waiting on a possible fiscal cliff compromise.
For some, there's still uncertainty whether they can support a compromise -- assuming one emerges -- and questions about whether the GOP-led House will go along, given that it's all but certain to include higher taxes on upper income Americans.
For Rep. Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia, who is days away from becoming an ex-member of Congress following his runoff defeat Dec. 6 to fellow incumbent Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette, it comes down to how much the agreement cuts federal spending.
"Number one for me is that I can't vote for tax increases unless there are meaningful cuts in spending," said Landry, who won his first and only term in 2010 with support from the anti-tax Tea Party movement.
Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, said he's relieved that Senate Republicans have dropped a proposal to tie any fiscal cliff agreement to lowering costs for Social Security. Those discussions, he said, should occur, but not in connection to the fiscal cliff discussions.
"That was my biggest concern," Richmond said. "Talking about benefits for seniors and the debt don't go together because Social Security hasn't contributed to the debt. They are separate."
Still, Richmond said, he hopes any compromise is something he can support. The higher income levels are raised for continued eligibility for the Bush-era tax cuts, Richmond said, the more spending has to be reduced and he doesn't want a disproportionate impact from new cuts to hit the middle class and low-income Americans. According to Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., Democrats have moved from President Barack Obama's original proposal to allow the Bush era tax cuts to expire for families with earnings over $250,000 to incomes of $450,000.
Said Richmond: "As we talk about raising the income levels, we need to remember that we've cut almost $1.5 trillion last year and those cuts came from programs that support middle class families and lower income Americans," Richmond said. "So, they've already given."
Richmond said he understands that spending cuts are needed as part of a "balanced plan" to reduce the debt, but that Republicans aren't acknowledging that a lot of increased government spending over the last decade came from new programs designed to protect Americans after the 2001 terrorist attacks, including a new Department of Homeland Security.
Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, said Monday night that the he and other members are still trying to figure out exactly what is in the debt ceiling compromise. But he said he's disturbed that the White House won some additional spending, including a continuation of extended unemployment benefits.
He said that House Republicans are intent on cutting spending, and will use a need in the next few months to extend the nation's debt ceiling to press for more cuts in federal spending.
Scalise said without more information he can't say how he'll vote Tuesday on the debt ceiling compromise worked out in marathon negotiations between Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Landry said that he is "concerned" about the higher taxes that will result for all Americans if no agreement is reached.
But he said in his view the "even bigger threat" would be for Congress not to seriously deal with the deficit, which he contends ultimately can cause an even bigger hit on the U.S. economy.
Landry, who last week moved out of his Washington apartment, is staying in a hotel for a session being held at a time the old Congress is usually in recess - waiting for the newly elected members to be sworn in Jan. 3.
Landry said he plans to join some fellow House members and staffers watching the telecast of the LSU-Clemson game in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. "The location is still to be determined," he said.
Scalise also plans to watch the LSU-Clemson game at the apartment he shares with three other House members. "Hopefully, I can persuade them to root for LSU," said Scalise, an LSU graduate.
"Not exactly, how I planned to spend New Year's Eve," Scalise said.
Richmond said he doesn't anticipate doing very much of anything Monday night. Richmond is feeling under the weather, (he fears he might be in the early stages of the flu) and is hoping to corral a "good bowl of gumbo" to help him feel better.