McConnell blocks vote on GOP payroll tax bill. Fine, Reid says, and blocks vote on spending bill.

[bigtree]

Associated Press -- 12/14/2011


____ Mitch McConnell, the Senate’s top Republican, refused Wednesday to let the chamber vote quickly on a House-passed bill extending this year’s payroll tax cut through 2012. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says the Senate will reject that bill, and only then can he negotiate with House Republicans over a compromise payroll tax measure.

McConnell says the Senate should first vote on legislation financing the federal government, because a temporary bill keeping agencies open expires on Saturday, threatening a government shutdown.

Reid would not allow a vote on the spending bill. Democrats worry that if Congress passes that measure first, it would ease pressure on Republicans to reach compromise on the payroll tax legislation.

. . . it will soon be time for talks on a final package, the Senate’s top Democrat says.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., made the remarks Tuesday shortly after the House used a near-party line 234-193 vote to approve the measure. The bill has drawn nearly universal Democratic opposition because it would force work to begin on the 1,700-mile-long Keystone XL oil pipeline, which President Barack Obama would rather postpone, and would trim federal spending without forcing the wealthy to contribute as much as Democrats want.

this is an AP report . . .

new link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=143691284

[ProSense]

1. The

Daily Caller is RW garbage.

Who the hell cares if McConnell blocks the GOP tax bill? They need to kill it.

Also, have they fixed the provisions in the spending bill that the President vowed to veto?

[bigtree]

3. point is, that is the order of votes

Reid says the republican bill needs to be dispensed with and Obama's payroll tax cut plan dealt with before he agrees to allow a vote on the spending bill.

Try the news without the link . . . it's an AP report.

new link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=143691284

[ProSense]

9. Doesn't

"point is, that is the order of votes"

...matter. This is inside political maneuvering, and especially disgusting since McConnell is holding a harmful piece of Republican legislation hostage to try to gain the upper hand.

It's disgusting!

[bigtree]

10. I get all of that

I just thought it would help to have the latest state of legislative maneuvering in front of us to consider.

I think it does matter. I'm not sure why you're so fired up to brush off this post. The interest to me is that Reid offered to pass an extension of the debt limit until Wednesday, but McConnell refused. That sets us up for another debt limit showdown this Friday. I agree that it's disgusting, but certainly worth putting up in this forum for discussion and consideration. There are a lot of issues surrounding this legislation and the items the republicans decided to include.

I don't think issues like this should be brushed off with cynicism. I hate the way some threads are dismissed with a word and a wave.

[PatSeg]

2. Evidently

they think their approval ratings aren't quite low enough.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

4. Yes, they do. They just don't care. All they care about defeating the President.

To hell with those who suffer as a result.

[PatSeg]

6. And to think

they actually get paid for this kind of crap.

I'm not really surprised, but I didn't think the House would come up with a bill THAT outrageous.

[Life Long Dem]

5. Obama said he would veto a bill with the Keystone XL oil pipeline in it.

And so the Republicans stick the pipeline in the bill. Republicans don't care about the middle class.

[bigtree]

7. worse than that, to pay for their payroll tax reduction

. . . they cut the length of workman's comp in their bill:


from the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/opinion/targeting-the-unemployed.html?pagewanted=print

Under current policy, federal benefits kick in when state-provided benefits run out, typically after 26 weeks. The duration of the federal payouts depends on the level of unemployment in a given state. Currently, workers in 22 of the hardest-hit states — including California, New Jersey and Connecticut — qualify for up to 73 more weeks of aid. In five other states — including New York — up to 67 more weeks are available. In the remaining 23 states, maximum federal benefits range from 34 weeks to 60 weeks. The cost to continue the program for another year would be about $45 billion.

The Republican plan would cut $11 billion of that in 2012 by slashing up to 40 weeks from the program, reducing by more than half the maximum 73 weeks now available. Because of the way the program is structured, the biggest cuts would come in the states with the highest unemployment. Millions of jobless workers would be quickly left without subsistence, and the weak economy would be weakened further by the drop in consumer spending.

The bill would also impose onerous — and gratuitous — requirements on people who apply for jobless benefits. It would allow states to drug test applicants and would require recipients to be high-school graduates or working toward an equivalency degree.

more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/opinion/targeting-the-unemployed.html?pagewanted=print

[mmonk]

8. Good. I'm glad for the block.

The Keystone XL pipeline needs further evaluation concerning impact. I still don't like playing on the Republican ideological field though that we should be concerned with deficit reduction in a dead, high unemployment economy. But maybe that field is both parties' field now. The rest is about who shares the costs and where the money goes.