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发帖数: 2273 | 1 Washington (CNN) -- Congress showed little sign Tuesday of resolving its
partisan standoff over the payroll tax-cut extension as the Republican-
controlled House of Representatives refused to hold a vote on a Senate
proposal, and leaders in the Democratic-controlled Senate insisted they won'
t go along with a new House plan.
As the clock ticked down, nobody appeared willing to bend and neither side
seemed to know how to break the logjam.
The Senate voted 89-10 in favor of a two-month tax-cut extension Saturday,
but that short-term compromise has slammed into a conservative roadblock in
the House, where rank-and-file Republicans are fuming over the short-term
nature of the plan, among other things.
Republicans on Monday night rejected a Democratic motion to allow a full
House vote on the Senate plan -- a move top Democrats characterized as a
sign of weakness on the part of House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and
other House GOP leaders.
The House is instead holding votes Tuesday on a measure calling for the
issue to be taken up by a House-Senate conference committee, as well as on a
resolution supporting a year-long extension of both the payroll tax cut and
emergency federal unemployment benefits.
House Republicans are also pushing for a new, two-year "doc fix," or delay
in significant scheduled pay cuts to Medicare physicians.
Cantor: No vote on the the payroll tax
Rep. West against two-month extension
All three measures are currently set to expire December 31.
Democratic leadership aides in the Senate -- which has already adjourned for
the year -- told CNN their side won't take part in a conference committee
until the Republicans agree to the two-month extension. House Republican
members said they will go on break after Tuesday's votes, and won't return
until there's a conference committee deal.
Meanwhile, each side spent Tuesday morning accusing the other of acting
irresponsibly.
The Senate's "two-month plan is simply unworkable. Families, employers, and
workers can't live their lives month to month," declared House Majority
Leader Eric Cantor, R-Virginia. "Washington needs to stop adding confusion
and more uncertainty to people's lives."
Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, ripped Republicans for allowing Congress to go "
into this holiday season without helping our unemployed brothers and sisters
(and preventing) seniors from seeing their doctors."
"What is happening here today is shameful. It is a disgrace. It is unreal.
It is unbelievable," he said. "Where is your compassion? Where is your heart
? Where is your soul?"
The political consequences of a failure to act could have major economic and
political fallout. The payroll tax break alone is worth roughly $1,000 a
year for an average family and affects about 160 million Americans. Numerous
observers believe President Barack Obama is preparing to parrot Harry
Truman's 1948 campaign next year by running against an unpopular,
dysfunctional Congress controlled partly by the GOP.
House GOP leaders' decision not to hold a vote on the $33 billion Senate
plan -- an apparent reversal of earlier plans -- came after a two-hour
meeting of the entire House Republican caucus late Monday.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, told reporters that the
change probably meant Boehner and his lieutenants lacked enough support from
their own members to guarantee a defeat for the Senate bill.
In the 434-member House chamber -- one seat is currently vacant -- the 242-
seat Republican majority can only afford 26 defections to overcome a unified
192-seat Democratic minority.
South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, part of the House Democratic leadership,
said Monday night his party's caucus was 99% in support of the Senate
measure.
A House GOP leadership aide conceded to CNN that it is a "cleaner message"
to simply vote to affirm the House position on extending the payroll tax cut
for a year, instead of opposing a two-month extension.
"We outright reject the attempt by the Senate to kick the can down for 60
days," Cantor said after Monday night's caucus meeting.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, has said he has no intention of
considering the new GOP plan. On Monday, he blasted Boehner for allegedly
abandoning the Senate compromise.
"I negotiated a compromise (with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-
Kentucky) at Speaker Boehner's request. I will not reopen negotiations until
the House follows through and passes this agreement that was negotiated by
Republican leaders and supported by 90% of the Senate," Reid said.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney called Boehner's stance "nonsensical,
" stating that it "takes compromise to get something done" under a divided
government.
"Americans paying attention to this must be pulling their hair out," Carney
said.
Boehner, however, said Monday night that "we disagreed with what the Senate
produced."
"They did their job," he said of his call last week for the Senate to send
the House a proposal. "They produced a bill, and the House disagreed with it
."
While there are sharp differences over how to proceed, both the House and
Senate versions of the legislation extend the tax cut, unemployment benefits
and the doc fix. Both measures also would push for presidential action on
the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico --
something demanded by Republicans.
On Monday, at least five mostly moderate Republican senators voiced
disapproval with the likely House rejection of the Senate plan, a sign of
increasing pressure on House Republicans to pass it.
The group included Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe
and Susan Collins, Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar and Nevada Sen. Dean Heller.
"During this time of divided government, both parties need to be reasonable
and come to the negotiating table in good faith," said Brown, who is facing
a stiff re-election challenge in heavily Democratic Massachusetts next year.
"We cannot allow rigid partisan ideology and unwillingness to compromise
stand in the way of working together for the good of the American people."
Meanwhile, five Democratic senators called on House Republicans to pass the
Senate plan in order to speed up approval of the Keystone pipeline.
Congressional Democratic leaders insist the Republican-led House will be
blamed for a year-end increase in working Americans' tax bills if it fails
to go along with the Senate.
"This is a pass-the-popcorn moment for Democrats," one senior congressional
Democratic leadership aide told CNN Monday. "Boehner has been hung out to
dry by his caucus, and we are not going to save him."
Boehner appears to have reversed himself since a conference call with caucus
members Saturday, when he was the only House Republican leader to express
support for the Senate plan, according to a GOP source.
The source said Boehner described the Senate vote as "a good deal" and "a
victory" in the conference call. For his part, the speaker insisted Monday
that he raised concerns about the Senate plan "from the moment I heard of it
."
Boehner said he only praised a provision in the Senate bill requiring
presidential action on the Keystone pipeline.
"The rank-and-file members are extremely opposed" to the Senate plan, a GOP
source stressed, adding that most members were concerned with the
uncertainty caused by just a two-month extension, as well as the political
benefit the White House could gain in the national dialogue over taxes.
The Senate's two-month measure would reduce the deficit by nearly $3 billion
, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Under the plan, the $33 billion in costs would be offset by an increase in
fees that new homeowners with federally backed mortgages will pay to Fannie
Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration. Those entities
would then turn that money over to the U.S. Treasury.
The bump amounts to about $15 per month for every $200,000 borrowed, Senate
aides estimated.
Most senators agreed on a two-month extension as a fallback position after
Democrats and Republicans were unable to reach a more long term,
comprehensive agreement.
CNN's Athena Jones, Rebecca Stewart, Deirdre Walsh, Ted Barrett, Kate
Bolduan, Dana Bash, and Erin Burnett contributed to this report. |
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