Washington DC (Catholic Online) - Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) revealed the legislation on Tuesday, despite the fact that Nevada Senator, Harry Reid (D) has already said the bill won't pass because it is too weighted in favor of the wealthy.

Given Reid's assessment, it is unlikely that the bill will pass, since it needs 218 votes and the cooperation of at least some of the house democrats.

The vote on the bill will happen this week. 

There has been some progress reported in the talks between John Boehner and President Obama, but the two sides still remain at an impasse over how much taxes should be raised on the wealthy, and what cuts should accompany them.

Obama has stymied Republicans by refusing to discuss tax cuts until the Republicans agree to tax hikes.

A failure of the two sides to agree before Jan. 1, will trigger the "fiscal cliff," a collection of automatic spending cuts and tax increases that economists warn will trigger a new recession that could last through most of 2013.

However, the government continues to deficit spend in record-breaking amounts. Within the next few months, it is expected that Obama will ask to raise the debt ceiling, which will increase the burden owed by future generations.

Boehner has informed Obama that he would be pursuing what he calls, "Plan B" legislation.

Obama and leading Democrats have held emergency meetings to discuss how to react to the Republican attempt to break the gridlock.

So far, the Democratic response is to bottleneck everything.

If the two sides can't work out their differences in the next 13 days, your taxes will go up, no matter if you are a millionaire or a pauper. And if you rely on benefits, your benefits will likely be cut too. Ultimately, we all have something to lose if neither side can make reasonable concessions.

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