Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at 11:18AM | Benny Martinez
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), flanked by Republican conferees selected to negotiate a final payroll tax holiday deal, again pleaded with Senate Democrats Wednesday to return to Washington, appoint conferees and “do the people’s work.”
“All we’re asking for is to get the Senate Dems over here to work with us to resolve our difference so we can do what everybody wants to do; extend the payroll tax credit for the next year,” Boehner told reporters.
Cantor said that the only item separating the two parties is the duration of a potential extended payroll package. A bill passed by the Senate would’ve extended the payroll tax holiday, unemployment insurance and doctor reimbursements for two months. House Republicans, however, disapproved of that, arguing that the extension should be lengthened from two months to an entire year.
So lies the current debate that has yet again forced Congress to work into the eleventh hour to reach consensus, this time on an issue that would directly affect more than 160 million Americans. it’s no wonder a whopping 86 percent of Americans disapprove of the job Congress is doing, according to a recent Gallup poll.
House Republicans, though, have vowed to stick around as long as it takes for a deal to get done. Considering both Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have announced that they would not be appointing conferees, it’s not likely that the two chambers will reach a deal via conference.
“Republicans are committed to a full-year’s tax cut for families… and we’re willing to work throughout the holidays to make sure that happens,” Rep. Kevin Brady, a GOP conferree, said. “So Mr. President, Senate Democrats, vacation’s second, do your jobs first.”
UPDATE — House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) called on Senate Democrats and President Obama to remain in Washington throughout the holidays to “work out our differences” and extend a payroll tax holiday for one year rather than approving a temporary, two-month extension.
“We’ve done our job, all we need now is to resolve our differences,” Boehner said Tuesday shortly after the House diapproved of a Senate bill to extend the payroll tax holiday. “There’s no reason we can’t do this in short order.”
Boehner also made clear, that despite previous reports that the House would adjourn following Tuesday’s votes, House GOP leadership and a handful of negotiators will remain “ready and able” to finalize a year-long extensions before Jan. 1. According to the Speaker, Reps. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), David Camp (R-Mich.), Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.), Nan Hayworth (R-N.Y.), Tom Price (R-Ga.), Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Greg Walden (R-Ore.) would be on hand and in Washington through the end of the year.
The House Speaker questioned the willingness of President Obama to increase his involvement by demanding Senate Democrats reconvene to hash out an agreement.
“Now it’s up to the president to show real leadership,” Boehner said. “He said that won’t leave town for the holidays until this bill is done. I think President Obama needs to call on Senate Democrats to go back into session move to go a conference, and to sit down and resolve this bill as quickly as possible. We’ve done our work for the American people and now it’s up to the president and Democrats in the Senate to do their obs as well.”
This story was updated at 2:34p.m. EST…
UPDATE — Just before 1:00p.m. EST Tuesday, the House voted 229-193 to disapprove of the Senate’s two-month payroll holiday extension, calling the upper chamber back to conference to work out their differences.
The vote puts pressure back on Senate Democrats to reconvene even though Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has already said the upper chamber was done with votes for the year. Reid took to his Twitter account to respond to the House’s latest vote.
“Happy to cont. negotiations on a yearlong deal as soon as #House passes the #Senate’s compromise, & prevents tax hike from hitting mid class,” Reid tweeted.
Reid’s statement indicates that Senate Democrats will not likely return to conference with House Republicans.
According to a Democratic aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity, following the lower chamber’s scheduled votes Tuesday, House members plan to follow suit with the Senate and adjourn for the holidays, leaving no window for a conference to actually take place.
“No conference, no nothing, everything expires,” the Democratic source said.
This story was updated at 1:26p.m. EST…
WASHINGTON - The House is expected to vote Tuesday on a plan that would send a Senate-passed, two-year payroll tax cut extension into conference, a procedure that would allow Republicans to reject the upper chamber’s bill without actually voting against it.
Though House Republicans will not formally reject the Senate-passed extension with a vote, GOP leaders have said that the move to conference with the upper chamber would serve as a vote against the Senate’s bill.
House Republicans are vehemently opposed to the duration of the two-month extension drafted in the Senate. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has said it is an attempt to “kick the can down the road for 60 days” and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) has said the “two-month bill would do more harm than good.”
Despite an 89-10 vote in the upper chamber and approval from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Republicans have opted to bring the bill to a conference in an effort to reach a deal that would extend the payroll tax package for a full year rather than accept a two-month-long extension. Democrats are taking the opportunity to label House Republicans as obstructionists.
“Speaker Boehner should allow an up-or-down vote on the compromise that Senator McConnell and I negotiated at Speaker Boehner’s request, and which was supported by 89 Republican and Democratic senators,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said in a statement. “It would be unconscionable to block a bipartisan agreement that would protect middle-class families from the thousand-dollar tax increase looming on January 1. It is time for Speaker Boehner to follow through.”
Reid has indicated that he will not re-open negotiations over the duration of the payroll tax holiday until the House passes the two-month extension.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) warned GOP leaders in the House that if they plan to vote on a $1 trillion omnibus bill this week, they can do it without the support of House Democrats.
“I hope they have the votes for it, because if they don’t’, they won’t be getting any cooperation from us,” Pelosi told reporters at her weekly press briefing.
House Republican leaders are expected to bring the omnibus to the floor without Democratic support. This could be an uphill battle for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) who has had trouble winning the votes of some rank-and-file Republicans on a number of occasions throughout the year.
With the end of the week fast approaching, the threat of yet another government shutdown looms over Congress. One option that would essentially serve as Plan B for Congress is the potential for passing a short-term continuing resolution that would keep the government funded into next week, giving the legislative body more time to work out their differences with the current payroll package.
Pelosi said that a shutdown was, in fact, possible but that there were many avenues available that would work to avoid it.
“It’s only a decision that Republicans have to make that they want to avoid a shutdown by coming to the table and coming to their sense about what is fair to get the job done, to get results for the American people, instead of creating a crisis,” Pelosi said.
Pelosi stood by the White House’s threat to veto the bill, saying “our caucus supports the president if he wants to veto the bill because of some of the provisions that are in there. We won’t be voting for a bill that has them.”
“It’s like someone saying to her fiancé, ‘Yes, I’ll finally marry you, but I can only do that on Feb. 30,’” Pelosi said. “That day is never coming, nor is the day coming when the president will sign the that Republicans passed.”
Shortly after Carte Goodwin (D-W.Va) was sworn into the U.S. Senate this afternoon, the chamber voted 60-40 to pass a $34 billion measure to extend unemployment benefits to Americans through November.
Goodwin, a 36-year-old former aide to West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin (D), was appointed by his old boss last week to fill the Senate seat previously occupied by the late Robert Byrd (D).
“I feel privileged to have played a small role helping to move this legislation forward. Obviously, no one can replace Senator Byrd, nor can anyone really hope to fill his shoes, but I feel privileged to have the opportunity to try and emulate his work ethic and his commitment to the law, this body, and the state of West Virginia.” said Goodwin following the vote.
In all likelihood, Goodwin will merely serve as a placeholder for Manchin, who hopes to win the seat in a special election on November 2.
A collection of House Democrats expressed frustration Wednesday with Senate Republicans over their continued push against the extension of unemployment benefits.
Speaking at a press conference, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), Chair of the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, called Republicans hypocritical for demanding that Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) be offset in the budget, while the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 were not offset by budget cuts.
The House approved the extension earlier this month by 270-153, despite concerns from Republicans over the extension’s $34 billion price tag.
Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.) stated that the Senate will likely be unable to pass the package until a new Senator is named to replace the late Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.)
The package, if passed, will extend benefits until November.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at 11:18AM
Newest Senate Member Reacts To Passage Of Unemployment Extenders
By Rob Sanna - Talk Radio News Service
Shortly after Carte Goodwin (D-W.Va) was sworn into the U.S. Senate this afternoon, the chamber voted 60-40 to pass a $34 billion measure to extend unemployment benefits to Americans through November.
Goodwin, a 36-year-old former aide to West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin (D), was appointed by his old boss last week to fill the Senate seat previously occupied by the late Robert Byrd (D).
“I feel privileged to have played a small role helping to move this legislation forward. Obviously, no one can replace Senator Byrd, nor can anyone really hope to fill his shoes, but I feel privileged to have the opportunity to try and emulate his work ethic and his commitment to the law, this body, and the state of West Virginia.” said Goodwin following the vote.
In all likelihood, Goodwin will merely serve as a placeholder for Manchin, who hopes to win the seat in a special election on November 2.