National News Alert

'Major setback' in cliff talks, Democrats say

Talks to avert the fiscal cliff suffered a "major setback" Sunday, Democrats said, when Republicans demanded significant cuts to Social Security benefits in exchange for President Obama's request to extend emergency unemployment benefits and cancel deep cuts to the Pentagon and other agency budgets.

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) was "shocked and disappointed" by the new GOP demand, said a Democratic aide close to the talks, who described the request as a "poison pill."

While the two sides were still talking, said the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private negotiations, "we view this as a serious setback."

Read more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2012/12/30/democrats-report-major-setbacks-in-cliff-talks/?1234