House GOP Announce Bill Extending Payroll Tax Cut, Approving Keystone Pipeline

By Andrea Salazar

House GOP leadership Thursday announced that they expect a vote on extending Social Security payroll tax cuts next week.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said, at news conference, that the bill would also include an extension and reform of unemployment benefits and approval for the Keystone XL Pipeline, despite President Obama’s threat to veto any bill linked to the oil pipeline.

“Mr. President, we will have some of your ideas in this bill, but maybe it’s time to try some of ours. Do not veto this jobs bill,”  said Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas).

Acknowledging that the bill does not include everything both sides asked for, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said it “does make some progress.”

“This bill does ensure that we abide by the principle that we want people to keep more of their hard-earned money, and this bill does have some incremental steps towards continued efforts of economic growth,” Cantor said.

But Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.), ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, said Republicans have “chosen a path of confrontation instead of the search for common ground.”

“The president said he’d veto it,” Levin said at a briefing on extending unemployment benefits. “So instead of reaching out…they’re trying to undercut the president.”

Janie Amaya contributed to this story.

Boehner Urges Obama To Re-Visit GOP Jobs Plan

By Janie Amaya

Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) urged President Barack Obama Wednesday to consider the Republican jobs plan.

Speaking before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Speaker said the Republican jobs plan focuses on fixing federal regulations, the current tax system and getting the budget under control.

Citing a Gallup Poll, Boehner said the biggest concern for small businesses in America is what he described as a continuing “regulatory onslaught” coming from Washington D.C.

“The reluctance to do what we know has to be done, continues to mystify me. This is not rocket science,” Boehner said.

He said potential job creating companies like Gibson Guitars, have shut down or been sued due to federal regulations. In the case of Gibson Guitars, the business was raided by the government because it uses imported wood.

“I don’t want dirty air. I don’t want dirty water. Come on, it’s about  what makes sense in order for America to be able to compete. If we can compete and compete successfully, more Americans are gonna be back to work,” Boehner said.

Cantor Highlights Democratic Opposition To Jobs Bill

By Janie Amaya

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Tuesday night’s vote in the Senate proved that the American Jobs Act is not just opposed by Republicans, but by Democrats as well.

“The Senate’s action last night, proved that the month-long campaign that the White House has been on to promote the Presidents bill, failed,” Cantor said during a press conference in the RNC’s lobby, noting that the vote demonstrated that the President couldn’t even get the necessary support in his own party to pass the bill.

He noted that even in the House, the chief sponsor of the President’s jobs bill put it in by request, which Cantor says does not indicate whole-hearted support of the bill.

“When we hear several on the other side of the aisle in the Senate indicate that somehow, this is [the Republican’s] economy and we’re to blame because we are not passing the President’s bill, I think we can all see through that now,” Cantor said.

The bill failed to pass its first procedural hurdle after two Democratic Senators, Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) voted against invoking cloture. Democrats would have likely seen more defectors if the package had moved to a final vote.

Speaker of the House, John Boehner (R-Ohio), who joined Cantor, said the American Jobs Act is contrary to what is needed right now to help small businesses grow, adding that moving forward with the Free Trade bills with Panama, Colombia, and South Korea is an area of common ground.

“We’re going to continue to work with the President in order to create a better environment,” Boehner said. “Not everything the President outlined is something we agree with, certainly not everything we’ve outlined is something the President would agree with.”

Boehner: Government Will Not Shutdown

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) assured reporters Thursday that the federal government will not shut down at the end of the month.

Current funding expires on September 30. A vote yesterday on a continuing resolution to extend funding through November 18 failed 195-230, with almost every single Democrat voting against. In addition, 48 conservative Republicans voted against the bill on the grounds that it did not cut enough spending.

“There is no threat of government shutdown,” Boehner said. “This resolution was designed to be a bipartisan bill and we had every reason to believe that our counterparts across the aisle would support it. Once they began to see where some of our votes were, they decided to play politics and vote against disaster relief for millions of Americans who’ve been affected.”

Democrats were unhappy with the amount of money — $3.65 billion for disaster relief in the bill, nor did they support the fact that it was partially offset by a $1.5 billion cut to a Department of Energy advanced manufacturing loan program.

Boehner said he had a feeling that the bill would be rejected.

“I’ve always believed in allowing the House to work its will,” Boehner said. “I understood what the risk was yesterday, but why not put the bill on the floor and let the members speak? And they did.”

With the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) down to $215 million in its disaster relief fund, time is running out for lawmakers to authorize new funding.

“We’re going to meet with our Members and present some options to find a way forward,” Boehner pledged. 

A new bill could come to the House floor as soon as Thursday, and leaders have warned that the House may stay in session through the weekend. Both the House and Senate are scheduled to recess next week.

Click here and here to see pictures from today’s briefing.

Boehner Claims Obama Consumed By Reelection

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) accused President Barack Obama Wednesday of paying too much attention to the upcoming Presidential election.

“Watching the President here over the last couple of weeks has been a bit disappointing,” Boehner remarked during an appearance before the National Automobile Dealers Association. “It’s disappointing because it is pretty clear that the President has decided to forget his role as President and leader of our nation in a time of economic uncertainty to begin to campaign for his reelection some 14 months away.” 

Boehner dismissed Obama’s newly released debt plan as simple politics, adding that it will kill American jobs by raising taxes and make it more difficult for businesses to enhance the economy.

“I have been talking to the President all year about the need to do something big - the need to work together to solve our deficit and debt problem - and the fact that we could attempt to do this together would show the American people that both parties could work together on their behalf,” Boehner stated.

But the bipartisan effort did not work, according to Boehner, because Obama would not make the requested changes to entitlements that would ensure they would remain intact for future generations.

“It is time for us to lead and if the President won’t lead I can tell you that the Congress of the United States on both sides of the aisle will work together to do the right thing for our country,” Boehner said.

As Boehner concluded, he assured the audience that he was optimistic that both sides of the aisle would be able to work together to lead the nation through hard economic times.

“I grew up working in a bar, mopping floors, washing dishes and waiting tables. I learned to deal with every ‘jackass’ that walked in the door,” Boehner enumerated. “Trust me, I need all the skills I learned growing up to do my job today.”