White House Beckons GOP To Pass Temporary Payroll Measure

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters Monday that House Republicans should quickly agree to a two-month extension of the current payroll tax holiday.

The Senate passed the bill overwhelmingly on Saturday, but House GOP leaders have since made clear that they will oppose the bill in a vote this evening.

Once they formally reject the Senate plan, lower chamber Republicans are expected to reaffirm support for a measure to extend the two percent tax cut for working Americans by a full year. The bill, which the House passed last week, also contains an extension of unemployment benefits and cancels a soon-to-take-effect scheduled cut to reimbursement payments to doctors who accept Medicare.

The White House last week threatened to veto the GOP plan due to the fact that it contained an add-on regarding the Keystone XL pipleline. Interestingly, the Senate’s version, which Obama blessed after it was passed on Saturday, did not omit the the Keystone language.

During his briefing today, Carney was asked whether President Obama was surprised to learn that House Republicans are not on board with the temporary extension.

“It was certainly our expectation…that there was support in the House for a measure that would ensure that Americans didn’t have their taxes go up in twelve days,” he said.

Carney also noted that prior to announcing his opposition to the plan during a television appearance yesterday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) had urged rank-and-file members of his party to accept the Senate bill.

House Republicans Ready Enhanced Sanctions Against Belarus

By Agot Deng

Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ) said Monday that the U.S. and EU should work together to increase efforts to bring about democratic reform to Belarus.

Today marked the one-year anniversary of the bloody December 19, 2010 election-night crackdown in Belarus, which, in the words of Smith, “swept up more than 700 opposition supporters who dared to challenge the rule of Alexander Lukashenka.”

“The last year has been an awful one for the Belarusian people,” Smith told reporters. “The tactics employed on the infamous election night…and afterwards confirm the nature of Lukashenka’s rule — a dictatorship that perpetuates a pervasive climate of fear to squelch dissent.”

“The dictator has undertaken repressive measures on a scale and a brutality which has not been seen in Europe for more than a decade,” Smith added.

Smith called on Belarus to immediately release all of its political prisoners.

Smith and fellow House Republicans Dan Burton (Ind.) Frank Wolf (Va.) and Dana Rohrabacher (Calif.) have introduced a bill to reauthorize the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004, which has been referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and also to Committees on the Judiciary and Financial Services for consideration.

Smith and his co-sponsors would like to see the international community apply sanctions on the Government of Belarus, including economic sanctions, provision of weapons or weapons-related technologies or weapons-related training, cooperation of the Government of Belarus with any foreign government or organization for purposes related to the censorship or surveillances of the internet.

Smith has also drafted a letter to the ICC asking for the indictment of Lukashenka based on his 17 years of rule.

Boehner Abandons Temporary Payroll Plan, Pushes Year-Long Deal

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced Monday that the lower chamber will be pursuing a one year plan to extend payroll relief after House Republicans balked at supporting a two-month extension passed through the Senate.

“A two month extension creates uncertainty,” Boehner said during a press briefing Monday. “No more kicking the can down the road.”

Boehner said the House will still vote on the temporary extension, but that his colleagues will likely reject the Senate’s proposal and instead ask for additional negotiations between the two chambers.

Without Congressional action, payroll relief will expire on January 1st, bringing taxes on Americans’ paychecks from 4.2 percent to 6.2 percent. The White House has continually warned that an expiration means Americans will be paying an additional $1,000 on average next year.

Boehner denied Monday that he was fully on-board with the two month extension, explaining that he believed the inclusion of language that would require the White House to make a decision on the construction of the Keystone pipeline was a victory, but that he had always voiced reservations over a temporary fix.

The two-month extension passed through the upper chamber with overwhelming 89-10 support.

No Payroll Tax Cut Deal Yet

Not so fast.

Just when it looked like Congress would agree to a two-month extension of the current payroll tax holiday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) yesterday threw cold water on the plan.

During an appearance on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ Boehner said “It is pretty clear that I, and our members, oppose the Senate bill.”

Though the Senate voted 89-10 on Saturday to approve the measure, rank-and-file House Republicans reportedly leaned on Boehner and other GOP leaders to oppose the bill, and instead hold out for a full, one-year extension.

Last week, the House did, indeed, pass a full extension, but White House threatened to veto it because it included language that would have forced the administration to issue or reject a construction permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline within 60 days.

But President Obama announced Saturday afternoon that he would begrudgingly support the Senate bill, which does include the Keystone rider.

It was assumed, perhaps wrongfully, that the House would sign off on the bill when it returned to session today. Now, the bill appears headed for failure when it is voted on this evening.

“I believe that two months is just kicking the can down the road,” Boehner said yesterday. “The American people are tired of that. Frankly, I’m tired of it.”

Payroll Tax Cut Deal Sets Up February Showdown

The Senate on Saturday morning voted to extend the current payroll tax holiday for employees by another two months.

The 89-10 tally prolongs the popular two percent tax cut until February 29, meaning that lawmakers will again wrestle over a full-year extension when Congress returns from its holiday recess in early January. The $30 billion measure also extends long-term jobless benefits and prevents a steep cut to Medicare reimbursement payments from happening on January 1.

Earlier this week, the House passed a bill to extend the tax cuts for a whole year. The White House, however, rejected the GOP’s bill due to how it was paid for and the fact that it would have forced the administration to approve or decline a permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline in the next 60 days.

Faced with the possibility of seeing the tax cut expire in 15 days, Senate Democrats begrudingly allowed the Keystone rider to make its way into the short-term extension. Inclusion of the measure represents a huge victory for Republicans, who say the Canada-to-Texas pipeline will create thousands of jobs and will lessen the nation’s dependence on foreign oil.

Most Democrats had previously supported President Obama’s decision to delay approving the pipeline, citing the need to further study its environmental impacts. The proposed route of the transnational pipeline would take it across a giant fresh water reserve located in Nebraska. The project would also cross over Nebraska’s Sandhills, an enormous wetland ecosystem.

Despite the Keystone language, the White House signaled its intention to support the short-term extension.

“The President said that Congress cannot go home without preventing a tax increase on 160 million hardworking Americans, and the deal announced tonight meets that test,” said White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer. “This is an important step towards enacting a key provision of the President’s American Jobs Act and a significant victory for the American people and the economy.”

The Senate decided to offset the cost of the 60-day tax cut by raising the fees that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge mortgage lenders.

The bill is expected to clear the House when lawmakers return Monday from their weekend off.