Monday, December 19, 2011

Boehner: House Expected to Reject Senate Bill Extending Tax Cuts and Unemployment Benefits

Update: Harry Reid says no way. He's not coming back from vacation to reopen negotiations on a longer term extension of the payroll tax cuts and unemployment benefits until the House approves the bill already passed in the Senate.

This is good news in one way -- Congress doesn't deserve vacation.
The objections of the House GOP throws into doubt the fate of the payroll tax cut, unemployment benefits and other measures less than two weeks before they expire.
President Obama and congressional leaders had called for a one-year extension of the payroll tax cut, but the Senate could only agree to a two-month extension because of differences in how to pay for it.
“A two-month extension creates uncertainty and will cause problems for people who are trying to create jobs in the private sector,” Boehner said.
“No more kicking the can down the road,” he said. “It’s time to stop the nonsense.”
The Speaker denied that he had initially voiced support for the Senate measure on a private conference call with House Republicans before reversing himself after fellow party leaders and rank-and-file members strongly opposed the bill.
“That’s not true,” he said. “I raised concerns about the two-month process from the moment that I heard about it.” The Hill