The very crappy offer from John Boehner includes asking for a raise in the Medicare age eligibility, and the Chained CPI for Social Security, which also would take effect across other programs. The Roll Call, a congressional newspaper,
has more information on what Boehner offered in exchange for a tiny tax increase on the wealthy whose incomes are over $1 million dollars:
The GOP offer would raise the eligibility age for Medicare benefits from the current 65 to 67, a source said. Boehner also wants increases in Social Security benefits calculated under “chained CPI,” a more dynamic method of figuring inflation that would lower annual adjustments.
The offer came during a week when Boehner and President Barack Obama met twice at the White House and spoke on the phone at least twice, including on Friday. Talks that had seemed at an impasse appeared to be getting more serious with back and forth offers aimed at an agreement to replace the tax increases and automatic spending cuts due to take effect at the start of next year. Aides for both parties said Obama had not accepted Boehner’s offer, although published reports said White House officials had characterized the offer that apparently was made Friday as progress.
....
A senior Democratic aide said the main problem with Boehner’s proposal on rates is that it would raise about $200 billion, not enough to meet Obama’s target for raising a total of $1.4 trillion in new tax revenue as part of a debt deals. Combined with Boehner’s offer to raise $800 billion in new revenue over a decade from a rewrite of the tax code, that would leave $1 trillion in tax revenue.
This is a joke of an offer from Boehner, and it should be treated as such by those who are reporting on the fiscal cliff. This is no way "relenting" on his part, as David Dayden points out.