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December 13, 2011 in Nation/World
House approves payroll tax cut extension, with strings attached
WASHINGTON — A payroll tax cut package engineered by House Speaker John A. Boehner was overwhelmingly approved by Republicans despite a veto threat from President Barack Obama, escalating a year-end showdown over extending the benefit for 160 million American workers.
Passage of the measure today was a momentary victory for the speaker, who has struggled to get reluctant Republicans on board for the tax break, which puts a $1,000 in average workers’ pockets. It was approved 234-193, with 224 Republicans and 10 Democrats voting in favor.
But the Republican win is expected to be short lived, as the bill has limited chances in the Senate, where Democrats oppose the GOP priorities that Boehner added to the bill to win Republican votes, including one to accelerate the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.
The tax break expires Dec. 31, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., warned Boehner in a phone call that GOP leaders have spent too much time catering to their conservative flank rather than negotiating with Democrats on a compromise.
“This is what I told him: We are not going to finish the work of our country this year unless we work together,” Reid said. “They are wasting time catering to the ’tea party’ when they should be working with Democrats on a bipartisan package that can pass both houses.”
To bring Republicans to the table, Democrats have slow-walked an unrelated year-end spending bill that is needed to keep the government running, preventing the GOP-led House from finishing its work and leaving town for the holidays.
Such a strategy is risky, as Congress must approve the funding bill or the federal government will shutdown on Friday. But the leverage proved irresistible. Obama, in strategizing with Reid over the weekend, insisted the bills be linked. Obama said that “nothing gets done until everything gets done,” according to a senior administration official.
Republicans were caught off guard by the move, and thought they had a handshake agreement with Democrats on the spending bill. But Democrats said unresolved issues remained — including provisions on abortion, travel to Cuba and funding levels for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which plays a role in Wall Street regulation.
“Here we are with a government shutdown pending Friday, a deal already made, and I think it’s appropriate to ask the president and the majority leader why they want to undo a deal that was already made,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, “and threaten to shut down the government here the week before Christmas.”
The House vote on the payroll tax package underscored the work Boehner has done to bring unity to an often divided GOP. At a closed-door meeting before the vote, only one Republican rose to publicly question the policy, those familiar with the session said.
Conservative Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah delivered a message to his peers that noted the hard-scrabble politics before them.
“I stood up and said, ’I’m really good at voting no. I spent two years mastering that. This has a lot of positive in it,”’ Chaffetz said. He said he would go on to vote for the package.
The payroll tax holiday, which has been in place for 2011, reduces the Social Security contribution workers pay from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent. Lost contributions to the Social Security trust fund would be replenished — under the GOP proposal, it would be backfilled by spending cuts elsewhere in the budget. The chief actuary for the retirement system has said the fund would be unaffected.
In attracting Republicans by tacking GOP priorities to the bill, however, Boehner pushed away Democratic votes.
One by one, Democrats spoke during Tuesday’s debate against the GOP provisions in the payroll tax package — including the Keystone provision the president vowed to veto.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the minority leader, acknowledged the Keystone project has supporters among Democrats and their allies in the labor unions. They agree with Republicans it will create jobs. But Pelosi said Republicans should not use the tax cut to advance the project.
“The Republicans are trying to change the subject,” Pelosi said. “Let’s have that debate on another day.”
To pay for the bill, Republicans shun Obama’s proposal to impose a surtax on millionaires. Instead they propose reducing long-term unemployment insurance, cutting federal workers pay and asking upper-income seniors to pay more for Medicare, among other provisions.
The unemployment insurance cuts, in particular, drew emotional protests, and Democrats said more than 3 million jobless Americans would lose their benefits under the GOP proposal.
“The unemployed are not people who can ante up $10,000 bets or spend lavishly at Tiffany’s,” said Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., in a dig to the GOP presidential candidates — Mitt Romney made such a bet during Saturday night’s GOP debate and Newt Gingrich had an account at the jeweler. “Republicans are out of touch with the families of America.”
Democrats took particular aim at the provision that allows states to drug test those receiving jobless benefits.
“I don’t see anyone in the Republican majority demanding drug testing for folks who receive oil and gas subsidies,” said Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C.
Republicans explained that their proposal was trimming the costs of the jobless benefits and ensure the tax package was fully paid for.
Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan, who led the floor debate, said a vote against the Republican proposal was a vote to raise taxes on ordinary Americans on Jan. 1.
The payroll tax package now volleys to the Senate, where neither the Democratic nor Republican proposal has been able to pass.
Stocks plummet as outlook in Europe dims 
schleufer on December 13 at 4:49 p.m.
BPs web site
http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle800.do?categoryId=9036319&contentId=7067101
how do you suppose the families of the deep water horizon disaster victems feel knowing the republicans are holding their tax breaks hostage so that BP the company who is responcible for that disaster and those deaths can have their pipeline so that they can make billions more. its not bad enough what they did in alaska with that pipeline but what they did before during and after what happend in the gulf. look at boehners web site. he has numerous articles about this deal but none of them mention BP.
misjustice on December 13 at 5:12 p.m.
Pennies for the average worker bees and billions for Mr. Boner’s corporate masters…that’s a lot of string!
Where’s MY tax cut?
Pigrobin on December 13 at 5:22 p.m.
If we don’t want the new jobs, then let the payroll tax cut die. I’m good with that. I never thought the payroll tax cut was a good idea anyway.
Bruce (aka thatoneguy) on December 13 at 5:33 p.m.
You have to sort of admire the Republicans’ sheer brass in saying they’re in favor of extending the tax cut because it’s the right thing to do, and then turning right around and refusing to vote for it unless it’s linked to something like an oil pipeline.
crazyivan44 on December 13 at 5:42 p.m.
Regardless of what BP did in the Gulf they are still key in gaining access to future energy. Sorry everyone is so anti-fossil fuel and anti-profit…yes it hurts the little guy…rich getting richer…blah blah blah. These arguments are all well and good for your side of the debate, but we have roadblocks from executive branch agencies that prevent domestic fossil fuel extraction at the same time you have a mad man in Iran that is currently running military drills to shut down key ports in Arabia that can cripple worldwide oil supply.
Let’s put the arguments aside and get some flippin infrastructure built so if we have a worst case scenario we are dead in the water! If national security means heaven forbid someone makes money then so be it. We can debate the morality and ethics of profits later.
JBlim on December 13 at 5:50 p.m.
Someone here is anti-profit?? Point out the commie, or do you mean the BP’s of the world deserve to be as reckless as they want to be with no concern for anyone else?
nslopeofw on December 13 at 6:11 p.m.
If you morons could read, you would see that altho BP is paying for the deaths and spill, transoceanic, cameron, and haliburton were the hands on companies that ran the rig that blew up, the bad mud that let the gas to surface, and the failed BOP that prevented the leak from stopping.
Its easy to blame the big oil companies, but you all need your facts straight before you babble. BTW, the official report on the explosion (with the real blame) hasnt yet been released.
schleufer on December 13 at 7:34 p.m.
here is the final report.
http://www.oilspillcommission.gov/final-report
schleufer on December 13 at 7:45 p.m.
off the front page of that report for the morons who cant read…
The immediate causes of the Macondo well blowout can be traced to a series of identifiable mistakes made by BP, Halliburton, and Transocean that reveal such systematic failures in risk management that they place in doubt the safety culture of the entire industry.
Diana on December 13 at 7:46 p.m.
It’s funny that nslope called everyone else a moron.
misjustice on December 13 at 7:52 p.m.
Yup, I’m sure that the families of the dead - killed on that platform - are morons too!
Pennies for the millions of worker bees and billions for Mr. Boner’s corporate masters; sounds about right for the GOP.
Pigrobin on December 13 at 8:00 p.m.
You all have me convinced, kill the payroll tax cut.
Diana on December 13 at 8:24 p.m.
At least BP CEO Tony Hayward got his life back.
lowtechmaster on December 13 at 8:51 p.m.
Indeed, we have the best Congress, both parties, that money can buy. And who has the most money? And who is coercing reps and senators to pledge “no new taxes’??? It is not possible to balance the budget just by cuts, but the Tea Party folks seem to think it is. They are fools.
DickAdams on December 13 at 8:56 p.m.
Our country is broke. A payroll tax cut extension costs XYZ, but it has to be paid for. I`ll be redundant, Uncle Sam is broke. There ain`t no free lunch. Throw the career politicians from “BOTH PARTIES, OUT. Period. Cut the waste and get with the program.
DickAdams on December 13 at 8:58 p.m.
I left out, the career guys/gals are bums.
RedCedar on December 13 at 9:56 p.m.
How many times have we heard that. It’s getting sort of hard to believe. By the way, in this context “shutdown” should be two words. “Shudtown” is a noun. A verb is needed here because it’s what the government will do… or not. The pipeline is neither here nor there. Ms. Pelosi is right that it should be debated separately, piling unrelated things into must-pass spending bills has served both parties very well over the years. So, although she’s right, she’s also hypocritical.
Dazzeetrader11 on December 13 at 11:21 p.m.
It passed the House. Will the Senate have the nerve to say “no”?..afterall Pres got what he asked for;)