Senate Votes Unanimously To Repeal 3 Percent Withholding Tax

The voices of the Senate rang in harmony Thursday as the legislative body unanimously voted to repeal a law that would require government agencies to collect a 3 percent tax on payments made to individual contractors.

The 95-0 vote sends the bill to the House for final approval. President Obama has already said he would sign the repeal into law after a similar version passed the House in October. 

The House must reconsider a Senate version that includes tax incentives for businesses who hire unemployed veterans. The Vow to Hire Heroes Act is the first of three pieces of Obama’s jobs package to garner bipartisan support in the upper chamber.  

Under the act, companies that hire veterans who have been out of work for more than 4 weeks but less than 6 months would be eligible for a $2,400tax credit. A tax credit of $5,600 would be allocated to companies who hire veterans who have been looking for work for more than 6 months and would double if the potential employee suffers from service-related disabilities.  

The rare portrayal of bipartisanship is a victory for both Republicans and Democrats as they have struggled to see eye to eye on a number of issues. 

“It was not politics as usual,” said House Veterans Affairs Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.). “As more and more of our servicemen and women come home, we need to ensure that they receive the homecoming they deserve, not an unemployment check.” 

President Obama released a statement applauding the upper chamber’s approval of the law and urged the House to act expeditiously in approval of the bill in the coming days.

“No veteran who fought for our nation should have to fight for a job when they come home, and I urge the House to pass these tax credits as well so I can sign them into law,” Obama said in a statement. “I also urge Congress to pass additional jobs proposals in the weeks ahead to help the millions of other Americans who are still looking for work.”

House Republicans Call For Stimulus Audit

By Leah Valencia, University of New Mexico- Talk Radio News Service

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) and other House Republicans proposed an audit commission of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Wednesday, claiming that proper transparency of stimulus spending has not yet been provided.

“It’s time for Congress to demand answers on behalf of the hardworking taxpayers we represent,” Wilson said in a statement. “It is critical that American taxpayers receive adequate answers as to the whereabouts of stimulus funds.”

The bill calls for a 10 member bipartisan commission to be established, with a chairman appointed by President Barack Obama. The commission would investigate how jobs are being reported, the accuracy in the number of jobs being created and preserved and pursue future steps for job development.

“If you look at the number of jobs created by district and then look at the extraordinary cost, it is very revealing in itself,” Wilson said.

Reps. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), Mark Sounders (R-Ind.) and Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) are co-sponsoring the bill, at Wednesday's press conference, each cited cost-benefit discrepancies on the official stimulus website recovery.gov.

“The Obama administration’s website creates phony Congressional districts and fishy jobs numbers,” Kingston charged. “It’s time to pull back the curtain and get some transparency."

Miller: Middle class will suffer under the Obama budget

By Suzia van Swol-Talk Radio News Service, University of New Mexico
Congressman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) talks with TRNS correspondent Suzia van Swol at the 2009 House Republican Radio Row about the budget and federal spending. He says that we need to get taxes under control and that the best way to do that is with a fair tax. Miller says that even though the American middle class is making sacrifices now, they won't even know sacrifice until the President gets this budget passed and he tries to start funding some of the issues that are in it. (9:41)