McCaskill: Senate to Vote This Week on Combo of Tax Increases, Spending Cuts to Avert Sequester

Missouri senator Claire McCaskill announced this morning that the Democrat-controlled Senate, under fire for its failure to propose a measure to replace the sequester, will take action this week. According to the Missouri senator, the upper chamber will put forward a “balanced” bill that replaces sequestration with both tax increases and alternative spending cuts. 

McCaskill slammed Republicans for inaction, arguing that Speaker Boehner has failed to put forward “any kind of bill…that could pass within his caucus.” Host Chris Wallace pointed out that the House has actually passed two measures to replace the sequester, while “you never passed anything.” 

Boehner spokesman Michael Steel on Friday told me that, from the Speaker’s perspective, the last-minute panic over the sequester is likely an attempt on the administration’s part to engineer further tax increases.