Wall Street Journal (11/29/12) Janet Hook; Damian Paletta; Carol E. Lee

President Obama has issued a proposal for avoiding the fiscal cliff that offers a starting point for negotiations, and while Republicans have called the plan a step backward, they have yet to offer up a plan. Obama’s proposal would give Congress new powers to increase the federal debt limit, calls for $50 billion in infrastructure spending next year, and would raise $1.6 trillion over 10 years by ending Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and changing the tax code to limit tax breaks to those households. It also calls for an extension of the payroll-tax cut and unemployment benefits.