Adolfo Carrión Jr. (Photo: carrion2013.com)

City Republicans--and Adolfo Carrion Jr.--slammed proposed city legislation that would allow non-U.S. citizens to vote in local elections, calling the idea offensive, illegal and just plain dumb.

The City Council held a hearing earlier today on a bill that would allow any resident legally living in the city for six months or longer to vote in municipal elections. The bill, which is opposed by the mayor, has wide support on the council, with 34 sponsors--a veto-proof majority.

But Mr. Carrion, the former Bronx Borough President who worked in the Obama administration and would be the city's first Hispanic mayor, took a cue from Mayor Bloomberg, slamming the bill as "well intentioned" but "one of the dumbest things I've ever heard."

"There are very few things that bring me to the point of being almost speechless. This is one of them. Being a citizen of the US is a privilege that carries with it an awesome and sacred responsibility--the right to vote," said Mr. Carrion, who is running on the Independence Party line. "If we water that down, we are essentially removing one of the building locks of our democracy, let alone violating state law."

He also argued elected officials already represent non-citizens. "How about we focus on the fact that there is a crisis of confidence already amongst the citizenry, and address the fact that only 3 in 10 registered voters are going to the polls in New York right now?" he asked.

Supporters, inducing City Councilmen Danny Dromm and Ydanis Rodriguez, say the bill would give the right of representation to thousands of New Yorkers who pay taxes and live here legally, but still cannot vote.

"We currently have an estimated 850,000 legally residing, taxpaying New Yorkers, who are not represented at any level of government," Mr. Rodriguez said in a statement.  "Our country was founded on fighting taxation without representation and we are simply looking to uphold this central belief today."

But Republican supermarket magnate John Catsimatidis, who was born in Greece and immigrated to the the U.S. when he was six months old, slammed the council for pandering and said he thought the legislation would never hold up in court.

“It's silly to even bring it up and I don’t know who they’re trying to make happy," he said. "I believe this is a Constitutional issue ... I don't think it passes the smell test of federal law."

He used a barbershop analogy when asked who he thought lawmakers were trying to make happy:  “When the barbers  have nothing to do they give each other haircuts. I believe they're giving each other haircuts," he said.

Joe Lhota also expressed his opposition. "He believes that you must be a citizen to vote," he said via a spokeswoman. And Doe Fund Founder George McDonald agreed that, "No matter how well-intentioned, voting is a right reserved for citizens."

Republicans from the City Council and State Legislature also slammed the bill, saying they were "offended" by the idea.

"The right to vote and select those who represent us in government is one of the most cherished and important privileges of our citizenry," said the group, which includes State Sen. Martin Golden and council members James Oddo, Vincent Ignizio and Eric Ulrich. "To extend this privilege to non-citizens not only devalues United States citizenship but is inconsistent with New York State Election Law."

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said she planned to consider the bill after the hearing.

None of the other major Democratic mayoral candidates' campaigns responded to requests for comment on the bill.

Disclosure: This reporter is not a U.S. citizen and also cannot vote in local elections.

Dan Halloran. (Photo: Facebook)

A name familiar to millions of New Yorkers could enter a volatile Queens City Council race.

Rudy S. Giuliani, chief of staff to Republican Councilman Eric Ulrich and second cousin to the former mayor of the same name, is mulling a run for indicted GOP Councilman Dan Halloran's seat, multiple sources told Politicker.

"If there's a special election, it'd be hard to pass up," one Queens Republican insider said. "That's how he's framed it to me."

Mr. Giuliani is perhaps the only candidate who could keep the seat in their party's possession, two GOP sources argued, since Mr. Halloran was arrested two weeks ago for participating in an alleged bribery scheme and the Republican Party lacks a deep bench in the northeastern Queens district. The sources said Mr. Ulrich is encouraging Mr. Giuliani to run for the seat if Mr. Halloran does not seek re-election.

A special election, which would automatically occur if Mr. Halloran resigned or is convicted of a felony, could present a unique opportunity for a Republican candidate. A crowded field Democrats are already vying for the competitive seat, and as councilmanic special elections are non-partisan, a unified Republican front would be hard to defeat.

For his part, Mr. Giuliani denied interest in the race when Politicker reached out yesterday evening.

"Listen, as far as I'm concerned, there's still a sitting councilman. Anything else is premature right now," he said. "There's still a councilman."

Dennis Saffran, a Republican who ran against Mr. Halloran's predecessor, Democrat Tony Avella, in 2001, may also be weighing another run for the seat. Last year, Mr. Giuliani passed on his own bid against Mr. Avella, who's now in the State Senate.

Mr. Halloran has denied all wrongdoing.

Tom Allon (Photo: Facebook)

A little over five months after he announced a "fusion candidacy" for mayor on the Liberal and Republican party lines, Tom Allon, CEO of the local newspaper chain Manhattan Media, is ending his bid for City Hall. Mr. Allon announced his decision in a statement that attributed the decision to his direct acquisition of Manhattan Media's political news organization, City and State Media.

"When I decided to enter the mayoral race in July, 2011, I had a deep desire to lead this wonderful and unique city and to finally fix our crumbling public education system, the single greatest cause of New York City’s jobs crisis and increasing inequality in the five boroughs," Mr. Allon said.

Mr. Allon's candidacy was widely considered a long shot, but he initially maintained he would use his position as the Liberal Party candidate to guarantee a spot in the general election even if he was unable to defeat his better-known and funded rivals in September's Republican primary--former MTA Commissioner Joe Lhota, billionaire John Catsimatidis and former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr. He focused his campaign on his experience as a former public school teacher and his idea's for the city's educational system.

"While no longer a candidate, I will continue to passionately and relentlessly pursue a reform agenda as an education activist, a columnist and blogger, and parent of three teenagers," said Mr. Allon.

Mr. Allon did not respond to multiple requests for comment about his pending decision this morning. As of this writing, it is unclear whether Mr. Allon will endorse any of the other mayoral candidates. Prior to Mr. Allon's announcement, Mr. Catsimatidis, who describes Mr. Allon as a close friend, said he was unaware of Mr. Allon's plans, but would gladly give him a position in a hypothetical Catsimatidis administration.

"Tom Allon is a friend of mine for 25 years and whatever he does, he has to do his own soul searching, you know, I always support my friends," Mr. Catsimatidis said. "Under a Catsimatidis administration, I'd love to have him in our education system running things."

(Updated 10:39 a.m.) 

Illustration by, Drew Friedman

One night this week, you may be at home, minding your own business, and find yourself on the receiving end of a phone call from John Catsimatidis. Your next brush with him might happen when you’re driving or sitting in front of the television. These encounters will, no doubt, be memorable, thanks to the candidate’s loud squawk of a New York accent and his decidedly distinctive appearance. With an ample gut and a face padded by a prominent second chin, Mr. Catsimatidis looks less suited for prime time than for a caricature by the pioneering political cartoonist Thomas Nast as a mass of jowls and bursting blazer buttons.

Over the next few months, the businessman plans to spend several million of his own dollars to take his mayoral campaign to the phone lines and airwaves in an effort to show New Yorkers he’s a more approachable, homespun brand of billionaire than Michael Bloomberg.

“I grew up on 135th Street. I grew up on the poor side of New York. I grew up in Harlem. I was a store owner. I’m still a store owner,” Mr. Catsimatidis told The Observer on the phone from a weekend vacation in the Bahamas. “I’m not a Bloomberg billionaire. I am a real New Yorker ... I didn’t go to Harvard, I didn’t go to Yale ... I rooted for the Yankees, I didn’t root for the Boston Red Sox.”

Mr. Catsimatidis indeed lacks the present mayor’s patrician polish. While Mr. Bloomberg cuts a sleek figure in designer clothes and betrays his Harvard MBA in his fondness for taking careful, heavily researched, data-supported positions, Mr. Castimatidis and his opinions regularly seem to spill out of his rumpled, well-worn suits. His campaign kickoff in January ended with Mr. Catsimatidis’s staff pushing him away from a pack of reporters and toward his car as he continued holding forth on everything from his cuff links to his plan to serve for a salary of only 99 cents a year.

“I don’t want the political consultants to decide. I want the voters to decide,” Mr. Catsimatidis said of his approach.

So far, it doesn’t seem like Mr. Catsimatidis has managed to connect with New Yorkers. Last week’s numbers from NY1 and Marist showed 5 percent of Republican voters supporting Mr. Catsimatidis, compared with 20 percent for former MTA Chair Joe Lhota and 8 percent for Doe Fund founder George McDonald. However, Mr. Catsimatidis plans to deploy some of his massive personal fortune to improve his standing, setting up his campaign as the ultimate test of how much credibility money can buy. “Right now, you know, we’re budgeting a million dollars a month,” said Mr. Catsimatidis. “We’ll see where we go.”

That budget sets Mr. Catsimatidis up to spend at least $8 million between now and the primary, which is scheduled for September. While that’s a far cry from the approximately $87 million Mayor Bloomberg averaged during his three runs for office, it’s enough to give Mr. Catsimatidis an edge over Mr. Lhota and the Democratic front-runners, who are subject to a $6.4 million spending cap as recipients of matching funds from the city’s public campaign finance program. Mr. Catsimatidis believes he can use that financial advantage to make himself a familiar face.

“Look at the Marist poll; they interviewed 172 people. Give me a—how do they say it?” He bellowed for emphasis: “Give me a break.”

At his current clip, Mr. Catsimatidis claims he’s already spent enough to make telephone calls to about 17 percent of the city. “Look, we did 400,000 robocalls this week, we’re going to do another million next week, and then we’re going to roll out radio and television in the next couple of weeks,” explained Mr. Catsimatidis. “You know, Lhota has had a lot of public recognition as MTA chief, so his name recognition is a lot higher. So, tune in in a couple of months and tell me about the polls then.”

Even if he manages to pull off an upset against his Republican rivals, Mr. Catsimatidis faces long odds in the general election against whoever emerges from the primary pileup on the Democratic side. The same Marist poll showed all of the top Democrats beating Mr. Lhota by a 3-to-1 margin in a hypothetical November matchup. Pollsters didn’t even bother testing general-election matchups featuring Mr. Catsimatidis.

An operative working with one of the Democratic candidates described the businessman’s bid as a rather amusing sideshow: “At this point, I’m not sure he takes himself seriously, but it’s nice to add a little levity to the race.”

But doesn’t a billion-dollar fortune command some attention? The operative we spoke with was blunt. “The last thing we think about or plan for is John Castimatidis. There’s no appetite for another billionaire Republican in this Democratic town,” the operative said, shutting us down before we could press the point any further: “I don’t know how else to put this; we don’t give a shit about him.”

For his part, Mr. Catsimatidis thinks his rivals are foolish to dismiss him. “Don’t underestimate this kid that came from a little Greek island to 135th Street and rose to the top of American industry,” he said.

In Greek mythology, Nisyros, the volcanic island where Mr. Catsimatidis was born, sprang from a rock that the sea god Poseidon used to crush a rampaging giant. Mr. Catsimatidis, who came here in February 1949 at six months old, is fond of recounting his own mythos, a journey from Nisyros to New York City where he took on retail giants and opened a grocery store that blossomed into a full-fledged empire, complete with a marriage to a former ballet dancer and a penthouse overlooking Central Park.

Though he is most often associated with the Gristedes chain, Mr. Catsimatidis’s estimated $3 billion net worth stems from a complex web of companies including a Pennsylvania oil outfit, a Greek-American newspaper and hundreds of real estate holdings throughout the city and country.

He’s not concerned that his immense fortune will alienate voters. “I’m not ashamed of being successful. You know, they criticized Romney for being ashamed of it,” Mr. Catsimatidis said. “I think we’ve got to inspire our kids that we shouldn’t be ashamed to be successful.”

In fact, Mr. Catsimatidis thinks his business background will prove an asset against the career politicians on the Democratic side. Last week, he made a jab at the Democrats before an audience he described as “30 hedge fund guys.”

“I said to them, ‘You guys own a lot of companies. Which one of those three candidates would you put in charge of one of your companies?’” he recalled, referring to Christine Quinn, Bill de Blasio and William Thompson. “It took about two minutes for the laughter to calm down. Okay? And I’ll leave it at that.”

John Catsimatidis at his campaign launch last month. (Photo: Hunter Walker)

One of his more memorable moments on the campaign trail thus far came when Mr. Catsimatidis appeared on NY1, arguing that targeting the wealthy for tax increases was akin to Nazi Germany scapegoating the Jews. Despite the backlash, he isn’t backing down from that comment.

“I got criticism because I brought up the Jews, but you know, I’m part Jewish. I mean, call my rabbi!” said Mr. Catsimatidis. “And what I said is, what Hitler did in the ’30s, he blamed the Jews for all of Germany’s problems, which was wrong. It was wrong ... Don’t pick on any group and hit them and say, ‘It’s Wall Street’s fault our country is in a tizz—or in a recession.’”

Mr. Catsimatidis was also willing to offer his uniquely articulated opinions on several other controversial issues. On gay marriage, Mr. Catsimatidis believes that government should “let them do whatever they want on a personal basis.” As for gun control, Mr. Catsimatidis carries a pistol, yet he favors strong background checks for gun owners. He also thinks there may be links between mass shootings and prescription medications.

“You know, you see these commercials on television, ‘Take this pill and you’ll feel better from your backache, but you may commit suicide.’ You know, you see some of these commercials and they’re crazy,” explained Mr. Catsimatidis. “Think about what I just said ... When you press one button in to fix something, sometimes another button pops out. I’d like to know what kind of psychological drugs that kid was on in Newtown.”

Mr. Catsimatidis obviously isn’t worried his frank approach to politics will prove to be a liability. He cited the late Mayor Ed Koch, who was in constant contact with the press and infamously engaged with city residents out in the streets, as proof his brash tactics have their charms.

Mayor Koch isn’t the only Democrat whom Mr. Catsimatidis openly admires. Though he spent the past presidential election lining Mitt Romney’s pockets, Mr. Catsimatidis was previously an influential fund-raiser for Bill Clinton. “I’m a Bill Clinton social Republican,” Mr. Catsimatidis said. “As a businessperson, I’m a Republican businessperson. So, I feel it’s a fusion candidate. I appeal to both sides.”

Mr. Catsimatidis has also donated to several of his mayoral rivals. Two of the Democrats in the mayor’s race, Bill Thompson and Bill de Blasio, both received over $3,000 from Mr. Catsimatidis for campaigns they ran over a decade ago. Adolfo Carrión, who may face Mr. Catsimatidis in the Republican primary, also benefited from the billionaire’s largesse, with a $1,000 donation in 2003.

“I think I can sit down with both sides, put my arm around both sides and come up with logical solutions that none of the other ones have the ability to do,” Mr. Catsimatidis said.

Even if he really does think he can defy the odds, why would Mr. Catsimatidis spend his money and energies on a mayoral election rather than using his resources to gild his golden years? While other men of his stature might be content to seal their legacy with their name on a building, Mr. Catsimatidis wants something more.

“We got the money, I got the ability and I will speak my mind and do the right thing for people,” declared Mr. Catsimatidis. “That’s what my object is. My object is, for the next four years, not to make another billion dollars. My object is that, at the end of four years, people will say, you know, that son-of-a-gun did a real good job.”

hwalker@observer.com

Charlie Rangel (Photo: MyFox New York)

Earlier this week, Congressman Charlie Rangel made headlines when he blasted the lack of diversity in President Obama's Cabinet. In a roundtable with reporters yesterday evening where he weighed in on a variety of topics, Mr. Rangel also criticized the Republican Party for not being diverse enough. Mr. Rangel brought up the issue while he discussed his belief the country needs to be more open to immigrants and posited there are many conservative opponents to immigration reform because the G.O.P. and its constituents are not sufficiently diverse.

"All you have to do is take a picture of Republicans and a picture of Democrats and it's as though you're talking about two different countries," Mr. Rangel said.

Politicker asked the congressman for his take on the African-American members of the Republican Party. Specifically, we brought up a controversial recent New York Times editorial that argued black Republicans are "more tokens than signs of progress" because "modern-day Republicans have deployed blacks to undermine black interests." Mr. Rangel said he hadn't seen the article, but added he doesn't think it's fair to claim African-American Republicans don't act in the interests of their community because there aren't enough black Republicans to evaluate their actions.

"I think that's so unfair. First of all, I didn't read the article, but if you're talking about the record of black Republicans, there are not that many of them to reach a scientific consensus," said Mr. Rangel. "You know, who are you talking about? Jackie Robinson? Colin Powell?"

Mr. Rangel went on to comment on the "handful" of African-Americans he's encountered in the G.O.P.

"Theres so few. It would be unfair, if there are black Republicans out there that are decent, compassionate, humane people, to be judged by the handful that I've met," the congressman said with a laugh, before adding, "That was mean wasn't it?"

Mr. Rangel went on to point to Reverend A.R. Bernard, an influential African-American pastor who's mulling a run for mayor on the Republican line, as evidence there may be "nice" black Republicans he hasn't met.

"Maybe I don't go to the right places to meet those people," said Mr. Rangel. "I was surprised by Reverend Bernard. He said he was a Republican. Well, obviously the nice Republicans are not out of the closet, but I had no idea he was a Republican."

(Photo: Getty)

Over the weekend, Republicans in the New York State Senate rolled out a plan to address gun laws, which received criticism from Democrats due to its focus on increasing penalties for illegal guns rather than restricting access to assault weapons. A spokesman for Governor Andrew Cuomo quickly shot it down, however, and Mr. Cuomo reiterated his position that the Republicans' policy proposals are a non-starter at a press conference this morning.

"I don't think their plan goes far enough," Mr. Cuomo said. "I think it misses the mark, pardon the pun, to put out a plan that doesn't ban an assault weapon with what we've seen."

Mr. Cuomo went on to describe what he termed the "process" for pushing through a bill on a topic as "heated" as new gun control measures, which he described as lawmakers looking at which way  the political winds are blowing and acting accordingly.

"These situations are always a process where a legislative body is sort of weighing the political pros and cons. They have to do it with a number of people," he explained. "'Gun control,' call it what you want, is a highly politically contentious situation. It is polarizing on the political spectrum and we have the full political spectrum. So I think they're going to have to make political decisions. Do they want to do something or not? I think this body--most legislative bodies--they want to get a sense for the atmosphere and the environment. They want to get a sense for how heated the opposition is, how heated the support is, and then they'll make a decision. So I think there's a process."

Pressed on whether he'd take the gun control issue to the public if the Republican-controlled Senate refuses to pass policies to his liking, Mr. Cuomo, in a rather roundabout manner, said that is indeed his plan.

"We'll do what I do every legislative session on every issue," he said. "We take the priorities in the State of the State [speech] and then we communicate with the people of the state. I try and build political support. I believe if you have political support among the people, then the politicians follow. I think if you look at the track record we've had, that's the way it worked. You introduce a proposal, everybody--legislative types--wait to see what happens. Does the balloon go up? Does the balloon go down? I'm blowing as  hard as I can to make the balloon go up."

Though he disagrees with the Republican gun control plan, Mr. Cuomo said he's glad about the overall performance of the State Legislature at the moment.

"I'm happy with everyone," he said. "I'm happy with the Senate Republicans. I'm happy with the Assembly. I'm just happy. Constant state of happy."

(Photo: Getty)

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who previously declined to slam House Speaker John Boehner over Congress' stalled Hurricane Sandy aid, took his argument to the next level this morning and suggested federal lawmakers are partially to blame for the delay in the vote on the package because they insert "things that are totally extraneous" into bills such as this. Although Mr. Bloomberg didn't specify the extraneous problem items, the legislation has been criticized by Republicans like Rep. Paul Ryan for being “packed with funding for unrelated items, such as commercial fisheries in American Samoa and roof repair of museums in Washington, D.C.”

"There's this 'Christmas Tree effect' where legislators put in their favorite bills and tack them onto something. The [Obama] administration does that, that's why you have an omnibus bill--to force everybody to vote for things that would never stand up in the light of day if they were individual," Mr. Bloomberg said on his weekly radio show with John Gambling. “I'm sympathetic. Yelling and screaming at [Mr. Boehner] is just not my style. It may be effective, it may not be. Everybody's got to make their own decisions. I think the legislative leaders who criticize and those in the Legislature should stop and think, they do exactly the same thing in terms of ladling on things that are totally extraneous but it's the only way they get them through."

Mr. Bloomberg's relatively subdued stance places him at odds with the overwhelming majority of the politicians in the New York region in recent days, with one exception in the form of Councilman Dan Halloran. But while name-checking several politicians, including Governors Andrew Cuomo and Christie Christie, as well as Congressman Pete King, who "worked hard" on the bill but have subsequently vented loudly at Mr. Boehner, Mr. Bloomberg reiterated that it's simply not his "style."

The mayor further expressed optimism that the bill would get done, as well as an understanding for why Mr. Boehner decided not to hold a vote on it earlier this week.

"Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader Cantor I've talked to thousands and thousands--it seems like thousands and thousands--of times, both assure me that the bills will come up. We believe there are the votes there to pass it," he said. "It'll have to go back to the Senate but the votes are there to pass it. It'll come a few weeks later than I would have liked. But, you know, it's easy to go criticize the guy. Running a legislature, as anyone that's ever done it will tell you, it is not easy....It's herding cats. They just passed a big tax bill with a lot of dissension about no spending cuts and I assume that the Speaker thought it was not a good time at that night to bring up a $60 billion bill....All that matters is that we get it done. And I think this will get done."

(Photo: Getty)

Governor Chris Christie is angry.

In addition to a statement blasted out earlier today, New Jersey's outspoken governor held a press conference this afternoon where he said Speaker John Boehner's sudden decision to halt a vote on the Hurricane Sandy relief package exemplifies "why the American people hate Congress."

"Thirty-one days for Andrew victims. Seventeen days for victims of Gustav and Ike. Ten days for victims of Katrina," Mr. Christie said, ticking off how long it took for Congress to pass relief after other natural disasters. "For the victims of Sandy in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, there's been sixty-six days and the wait continues. There's only one group to blame for the continued suffering of these innocent victims: the House Majority and their speaker, John Boehner....Last night, politics was placed before our oath to serve our citizens. For me, it was disappointing and disgusting to watch."

Mr. Christie, a Republican like Mr. Boehner, went on to describe the House's GOP majority as "selfish" and "toxic."

"It just could not overcome the toxic, internal politics of the House Majority," Mr. Christie said of the bill. "Americans are tired of the palace intrigue and political partisanship of this Congress, which places one-upmanship ahead of the lives of the citizens who sent these people to Washington D.C. in the first place. New Jerseyans and New Yorkers are tired of being treated like second-class citizens. New York deserves better than the selfishness we saw on display last night. New Jersey deserves better than the duplicity we saw last night. America deserves better than yet another example of a government that has forgotten who they are there to serve and why. Sixty-six days and counting. Shame on you. Shame on Congress. "

Asked afterwards if he understood why the vote had been canceled, Mr. Christie said he was left completely in the dark.

"I was given no explanation," he said. "I was called at 11:20 last night by Leader Cantor and was told that he was told authority for the vote was pulled by the Speaker. Our delegation asked for a meeting with the Speaker at the time; they were refused. I called the Speaker four times last night after 11:20 and he did not take my calls....There's no reason for me to believe anything they tell me, because they've been telling me stuff for weeks. And they didn't deliver."

Update (3:09 p.m.): Here's the video:

Breezy Point, Queens after the storm, on October 30th. (Photo: Getty)

Unsurprisingly, the governors of the two states most ravaged by Hurricane Sandy, New Yorker's Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey's Chris Christie, are not pleased with the Republican leadership in House of Representatives after they decided to not take up relief legislation last night. To emphasize their displeasure, the two released a joint statement criticizing the chamber for the move.

"With all that New York and New Jersey and our millions of residents and small businesses have suffered and endured, this continued inaction and indifference by the House of Representatives is inexcusable," they said. "It has now been 66 days since Hurricane Sandy hit and 27 days since President Obama put forth a responsible aid proposal that passed with a bi-partisan vote in the Senate while the House has failed to even bring it to the floor. This failure to come to the aid of Americans following a severe and devastating natural disaster is unprecedented. The fact that days continue to go by while people suffer, families are out of their homes, and men and women remain jobless and struggling during these harsh winter months is a dereliction of duty. When American citizens are in need we come to their aid. That tradition was abandoned in the House last night."

The statement added, "The people of our states can no long afford to wait while politicians in Washington play games."

Mr. Christie, a Republican, and Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, are joined in their criticism by local officials of both parties throughout their two states, as well as House Democrats like Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

(Photo: Getty)

Earlier this morning, Speaker John Boehner and the U.S. House Republican leadership held a press conference to announce a new proposal to raise taxes on the wealthy and avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff," or the steep set of spending cuts and tax increases that will arrive by the end of the year if a deficit deal is not reached. Specifically, Mr. Boehner's plan would extend the current tax rates on everyone making less than $1 million a year, a sharp jump from President Barack Obama's own counteroffer yesterday, which conceded a $400,000 ceiling. Mr. Obama had previously stood firm on allowing the tax cuts to expire for everyone making more than $250,000, a number that GOP lawmakers apparently found unacceptable.

"Our hope continues to be to reach an agreement with the president on a balanced approach that averts the fiscal cliff. What we've offered meets the definition of balance, but the President is not there yet," Mr. Boehner began. "What the White House offered yesterday was essentially $1.3 million in new revenues, for only $850 billion in net spending reductions. That's not balanced in my opinion. So, at the same time that we're going to talk to the President, we're going to also move 'plan B.'"

While not sounding especially happy about backing off of his vow to block any tax increases, Mr. Boehner said the need to protect a majority of Americans forced his hand.

"I think we all know that every income tax filing in America is going to pay higher rates come January 1st unless Congress acts," he said. "So I believe it's important that we protect as many American taxpayers  as we can. Our 'plan B' would protect American taxpayers who make $1 million or less and have all of their current rates extended. I continue to have hope that we can reach a broader agreement with the White House that would reduce spending as well as have revenues on the table. I think it'd be better for our country. But, at this point, having a 'backup plan' to make sure that as few American taxpayers are affected by this increase as possible, moving down that path is the right course action for us."