Both sides appear more conciliatory as 'fiscal cliff' deadline looms

US House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, striking a conciliatory tone a day after the Republican Party's electoral drubbing, said that he was ready to accept a budget deal that raises federal revenue under the right conditions, to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff" in 52 days.

His offer was conditional on an overhaul of entitlements and a tax code reform that closes loopholes, curtails deductions, and lowers income tax rates.

Boehner's gesture was the most explicit offer he has made to avert the "fiscal cliff" in January, when billions of dollars in tax increases and automatic spending cuts go into force. It came hours after Senator Harry Reid, the Senate Democratic leader, offered his own olive branch, saying "it's better to dance than to fight".

"Mr President, this is your moment," Boehner told reporters in the Capitol. "We're ready to lead, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans."

The offer may be enough to bring the parties to the table after an election that kept President Barack Obama in power, tightened the Democrats' grip on the Senate and chipped away at the Republican House majority.

But Democrats and Republicans are still far apart. Boehner made it clear that his vision for additional revenue includes a tax code that lowers even the top income tax rate from where it is now, 35 per cent, not where it would be in January when the Bush-era tax cuts are set to expire - 39.6 per cent. At least some of that additional revenue would come from economic growth that he said would be fuelled by a simpler tax code.