Slowly making progress.
House Speaker John A. Boehner has offered to push any fight over the federal debt limit off for a year, a major concession that would deprive Republicans of leverage in the budget battle but is breathing new life into stalled talks over the year-end “fiscal cliff.”
The offer came Friday, according to people in both parties familiar with the talks, as part of the latest effort by Boehner (R-Ohio) to strike a deal with President Obama to replace more than $500 billion in painful deficit-reduction measures set to take effect in January.
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4:34 PM PT: CBS says a deal is close
Though many differences remain, President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner have never been closer to a deal, numerous congressional and White House sources confirm to CBS News.
Sources familiar with the Friday call from Boehner to Mr. Obama, placed after the president's emotional statement on the Connecticut elementary school massacre, was the most productive of the fiscal cliff process.
In that call, Boehner offered to raise marginal income tax rates on households earning more than $1 million in adjusted gross income. The tax rate Boehner offered was 39.6 percent, the top rate under the Clinton-era tax code Mr. Obama favors.