Senate leaders are working off-stage Saturday to reach a final-hours deal to avert a fiscal crisis, with no official proposals or votes expected until Sunday.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), has adjourned the chamber until Sunday so Democratic and Republican leaders can negotiate on a deal to present to the House.

House members will officially return to Capitol Hill on Sunday in expectation that the Senate will present them with a plan to stop tax increases that are scheduled to kick in next week.

Senate leaders from both sides of the aisle vowed late Friday to scramble over the weekend to produce a new bill, on the heels of a high-stakes White House meeting with President Obama that is seen as the last chance to come together before the tax-hike deadline.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he hopes senators can come forward with a recommendation as early as Sunday.

Several senior administration officials told Fox News late Friday night that McConnell (R-KY), is showing strong signs that he will help seal a deal.

However, they acknowledges he will have a difficult time getting a deal passed in the Republican-controlled House, which has so far rejected any plan that includes allowing tax rates to increase for higher-earning Americans...

The pledge to work on a new bill is by no means a solution to the sweeping set of tax hikes set to hit Jan. 1, followed by steep spending cuts. Lawmakers still have to write the bill, and produce something that can pass both chambers.

Obama, speaking from the White House briefing room late Friday, voiced a dose of doubt about the Senate leaders' final push for a deal. He said he's "modestly optimistic" but that if Reid and McConnell fail, the Senate should allow an up-or-down vote on a scaled-back proposal the president is pushing.

"The hour for immediate action is here, it is now," Obama said. "We're now at the last minute, and the American people are not going to have any patience for a politically self-inflicted wound to our economy...We've got to get this done."

Considering how late this effort is getting underway, lawmakers easily run the risk of missing the deadline and causing at least some uncertainty with Americans' tax bills starting next week.

READ FULL SOURCE ARTICLE: 12/29/2012

Editor's Note: This is a perfect example of politics over government. Ask yourself: why wasn't this completed earlier in the year? Because each side wanted to exploit the political capital involved with the issue. The main purpose was not to execute government -- the very reason for their existence -- it was to secure a better political footing for their political parties, We the People be damned. Now, because these selfish, inept bastards played politics instead of serving the people, We the People will be saddled with higher taxes that feed the "spendasaurous" that is the federal government. Note to the federally elected: The American Revolution was started over taxes...be careful!