Boehner Strikes Conciliatory Tone in Talk of Fiscal Cliff

Mr. Obama enters the next fray with heightened leverage, both sides agree, especially on what he sees as the most immediate issue: Whether Republicans will relent and extend the Bush-era income tax cuts, which expire Dec. 31, except for households with taxable income above $250,000 a year.

House Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio said Wednesday he is ready to accept a budget deal that raises federal revenues as long as it is linked to an overhaul of entitlements and a reform of the tax code that closes loopholes, curtails or eliminates deductions and lowers income tax rates.

Mr. Boehner’s gesture was the most explicit offer he has made to avert the so-called fiscal cliff in January, when billions of dollars in tax increases and automatic spending cuts go into force. And it came hours after Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, offered his own olive branch, saying “it’s better to dance than to fight.”

Still wanna say “Fuck ‘em” and drive over the cliff anyways?