There weren’t any breakthroughs in the fiscal cliff negotiations on Thursday, but lawmakers vowed to buckle down in the coming days — or at least look busy. President Obama will meet with Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, John Boehner, and Mitch McConnell on Friday afternoon, and members of the House have been summoned for a Sunday session. There’s a chance that the two sides might reach a deal to at least avoid tax increases for most Americans and cuts to unemployment benefits and doctors who treat Medicare patients, but things still look grim. McConnell said in a speech on the Senate floor that Republicans will “see what the president has to propose,” and “hopefully, there is still time for an agreement of some kind that saves the taxpayers from a wholly preventable economic crisis.” Some say that’s a signal that he’s finally ready to work out a compromise — or he may just want to shift the blame away from his party.
