House Speaker John Boehner’s backup plan that would simply extend low income tax rates for households with incomes below $1 million a year “cannot pass both houses of Congress,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Tuesday.

Reid, a Democrat, said Boehner instead should focus on reaching a broad deficit-reduction deal with President Barack Obama. “Now is the time to show leadership, not kick the can down the road,” Reid said.

Last July, Reid’s Democrats passed a bill in the Senate that would have continued low tax rates, which are set to expire on Dec. 31, for families with net incomes below $250,000.

(Reuters)