off the table

あけましておめでとうございます。
財政の崖についてのニュースから拾いたいと思います。

The fiscal cliff is nigh; Senators strike deal, House won't vote
(CNN) -- Senate leaders and the White House struck a last-minute deal to avert the feared fiscal cliff Monday night, with Vice President Joe Biden headed to the Capitol Hill to pitch the plan to fellow Democrats.
"Happy New Year," Biden, who became the Democratic point man in the talks, told reporters. "Did you think we would be here New Year's Eve?"
A senior Democratic aide told CNN that if caucus meetings went well, a Senate vote could come "within the hour." But the House of Representatives went home long before midnight, meaning nothing will get through Congress before the combination of tax increases and spending cuts lawmakers have been scrambling to head off starts to kick in, at least on paper.
＜中略＞
"Take the 84% of your winnings off the table," Norquist told CNN. "We spent 12 years getting the Democrats to cede those tax cuts to the American people. Take them off the table. Then we go back and argue about making the tax cuts permanent for everyone."
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/31/politics/fiscal-cliff/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

tableは「普通は食卓をさすが、話し合いなどに用いられるものもいう」(『ジーニアス英和辞典　第３版』大修館)とあり、動詞では「<議案など>を棚上げにする、審議延期にする」(ibid)という意味もあることから、議会に関する意味を持つことがわかります。よってoff the tableで「提案されていない」(英辞郎on the WEB)という意味になります。また同じく英辞郎on the WEBにon the tableで「〔議案などが〕検討中で、審議中で」、「〔議案などが〕延期されて」とありました。ふたつセットでおさえて置くとよさそうです。

まだまだ未熟者で至らない点も多くあると思いますが、日々精進していきたいと思います。みなさま今年もよろしくお願い致します。(Hatahata)