FOXNews.com: Senators suggest fiscal deal still possible, but appear locked in same standoff

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Senators suggest fiscal deal still possible, but appear locked in same standoff Dec 23rd 2012, 14:40 Top Democratic and Republican senators said Sunday that Washington can still reach a fiscal deal by Jan. 1, but they still appeared miles apart in reaching a solution and continued to blame the other party. Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the chamber's third highest ranking Republican, said he thinks President Obama wants negotiations to fail, which would result in a roughly $500 billion mix of tax increases and federal spending over the next year to take effect. "I think the president is eager to go over the cliff for political purposes, to get the tax revenue and blame Republicans," he told "Fox News Sunday." "I believe … the president senses a victory at the bottom of the cliff." Negotiations between Obama and House Speaker John Boehner have again stalled. They met Friday before the president went on vacation and Congress adjourned until after Christmas Day. The meeting occurred one day after Boehner scrapped a plan to have to chamber to vote on a plan, to offer the president, which would increase taxes only for families earning more than $1 million annually. The president's full plan has recently been in part to keep tax rates the same for families making more than $400,000 a year. But on Friday he offered a stripped-down version of his plan, suggesting that both sides agree on no tax increases for families making $250,000 or less and extending unemployment benefits, then negotiating on spending cuts after New Years. Boehner has now called upon leaders of the Democrat-controlled Senate to come up with a proposal. The chamber is scheduled to resume work Thursday. North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, told Fox that accepting a bare-boned plan might be the only solution, with the deadline just nine days away, "but we can do better." He suggested Boehner presented a plan to the chamber that he knew would not get enough votes.

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