McConnell blocks vote on GOP payroll tax bill. Fine, Reid says, and blocks vote on spending bill. [View all]
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
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