"(Reuters) - A high-profile congressional effort to trim stubborn budget deficits appeared near collapse on Friday as Democrats rejected a scaled-back proposal from Republicans that contained few tax increases.
With Democrats and Republicans on a deficit-cutting "super committee" deadlocked ahead of a Wednesday deadline, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner floated an offer to try to break the logjam on tax increases and benefit cuts.
The plan would save $643 billion over 10 years, about half of the panel's goal of $1.2 trillion, but the two sides were unable to even agree what was in the plan.
Boehner aides said it included $229 billion in new revenues and fees. Democrats said it would only generate $3 billion in new revenue from closing a tax break for corporate jets.
"To have something on the table that does not ask the wealthiest people in the country to share (the burden) ... is unconscionable," said Senator John Kerry, a Democrat on the committee."
With Democrats and Republicans on a deficit-cutting "super committee" deadlocked ahead of a Wednesday deadline, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner floated an offer to try to break the logjam on tax increases and benefit cuts.
The plan would save $643 billion over 10 years, about half of the panel's goal of $1.2 trillion, but the two sides were unable to even agree what was in the plan.
Boehner aides said it included $229 billion in new revenues and fees. Democrats said it would only generate $3 billion in new revenue from closing a tax break for corporate jets.
"To have something on the table that does not ask the wealthiest people in the country to share (the burden) ... is unconscionable," said Senator John Kerry, a Democrat on the committee."
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