Breaking on CNN- Dems pull tax bill from House floor

[Poll_Blind]

Breaking on CNN right now.

May view CNN live HERE in the upper right corner, MSNBC is in the upper left corner.

See this report from CNN about what technically happened:

As the debate over how the tax cut bill will be brought to the floor and voted on was wrapping up, House Democratic leaders abruptly PULLED the "rule" from the floor because they don't know if they have enough votes to even bring the tax bill to the floor, according to a senior Democratic leadership aide.

Worth reading the full report from the link above, it's very short.

Also see this response by Meegbear, from TPM.

PB

[lame54]

1. are they trying to kill it?

[gratuitous]

2. That usually means one thing

The votes to pass it aren't there.

Time for the backroom to get filled up, and the beatings negotiations to get serious.

[Poll_Blind]

3. I'm not sure exactly what this means- whether it's a serious problem or just, as one Rep put it, a..

..."a little bump".

PB

[gateley]

10. That makes sense - if you don't have the votes why continue until you do?

Have you been watching? I'm just curious if there were a lot of Nay Dem votes.

[gratuitous]

37. This is where the party whip does his job

I haven't been watching (still have a job, yay!), but if they don't have firm commitments from a majority of members (218?) to vote for it, they're going to have to get a hold of the fence-sitters and find out what it will take to get their "yes" vote, and there are almost certainly a lot of Democrats currently ready to vote no. Since amendments to the bill are out of the question (this has to pass exactly as the Senate version to get done in time), persuadable members can start decking the halls and trimming their trees with all sorts of goodies. Time is very much against the folks who need this bill to pass.

[Horse with no Name]

4. Yeahh!

Go House! Put this piece of shit out of its misery.

[Donnachaidh]

6. [phone] n/t

[Myrina]

19. We can hope!!

O8)

[MissDeeds]

26. Amen!

(OT - love your sig line. Yes, they did leave us too soon.)

[BrklynLiberal]

36. +1000

[Lucky 13]

54. +1 woohoo!

[Poll_Blind]

5. Andrea Mitchell and Rachel Maddow speaking about this now.

PB

[formercia]

7. Let the tax breaks expire

and see if the GOP has enough balls to try and get them restored...

[Poll_Blind]

8. +1

PB

[BrklynLiberal]

46. That would have been the move of an administration with courage and principles...

None of that here.

[Bumblebee]

9. You understand, don't you, that this would mean no DADT vote?

[rucky]

12. How so?

[Poll_Blind]

14. Whatever dude, this is breaking news and nobody knows exactly what's going on yet.

You can conflate this with whatever you want but the bottom line is unless you're on the House floor right now, you know as much about what's going on at the moment as the rest of us.

PB

[gateley]

15. They've got us over a barrel no matter what. It is absolutely heartbreaking and

infuriating.

[Lucky 13]

29. They only have us over a barrel unless we bend over.

Time to fight

[Poll_Blind]

33. +1 I still don't know what the implications of this action are or how long it will last.

But I agree with ya!

PB

[Lucky 13]

42. It's probably nothing. The vote will probably go on as scheduled and the POS will get passed...

But I'd like to think the Dems are fighting the good fight against this...

[Poll_Blind]

50. I think there aren't that many good Dems left. However, this whole thing...

..appears to be networked with other legislation as well- from what I've pieced together reading various articles. It's not a done deal that the Republicans will necessarily support this either. It falls into two clear camps: Those on both sides who think they can get a better deal now versus later.

PB

[Bumblebee]

The only way 3-4 needed GOP senators agreed to vote against DADT was to get the tax bill

out of the way. Their leadership insisted on it.

More on that:

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/12/lieberman-dadt-should-come-before-start-video.php?ref=fpb

Regardless of what happens afterward, Lieberman said, repeal should come before anything else once the Senate debate on the budget bill -- a prerequisite for some of the Republican pro-repeal votes -- is over.

[BrklynLiberal]

39. So first it was the unemployed who were being held hostage for the rich. Now it is

Gay servicemen and women as well. Isn't that just so special!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let's hear some more repuke whining about the deficit and the war against Christmas... :puke:

Just how much blackmail and hostage-taking will this administration put up with???????????????

[Bandit]

20. You honestly think there is going to be one anyway?

If there is time after the Start Treaty is read and the omnibus bill read and then DADT read with all reports on also read.. there is not time between now and the 3rd of January when the new Congress convenes to read out loud everything the Republicans are demanding be read..There will be no vote on DADT nor anything else in this lame duck Senate..

[Bumblebee]

23. Let's blow everything off then! I think if there is enough pressure, there may be one

but this way, there won't. Hope this answers your question.

[Myrina]

21. I thought DADT was in a stand-alone since yesterday ...

:shrug:

[Bumblebee]

24. see my response above

[Lucky 13]

30. Your response which provided absolutely no info?

:shrug:

[Bumblebee]

35. all in the eyes of the beholder.

[Lucky 13]

44. You said... "You understand, don't you, that this would mean no DADT vote?"

This provides absolutely no info, backup, facts, insight, or thoughtfulness on WHY you believe that to be so.

To quote ESPN, "Come on, Man!"

[Bumblebee]

53. have patience to read through all my responses

[Dawgs]

25. Not if the Democrats threaten to stay through Christmas.

Don't let those fuckers go home until DADT repeal is passed.

[Poll_Blind]

27. +1

PB

[Bumblebee]

31. I agree; but it still will be a stronger possibility if the tax measure, however

flawed, is quickly signed into law. That's, in my mind, the real compromise we are facing, and repealing DADT is worth it.

[Lucky 13]

32. Hell yeah

I want to see some fight. I hope they do.

[dennis4868]

28. and no UI for 13 months...

and no child tax credit, and no college tax credit and a 50% hike on the lowest tax bracket....Let's hope this gets passed ASAP!

[Lucky 13]

34. I refuse to believe that is the only way.

We got a UI extension before. I believe we can do it again... NOT attached to this bill.

[Bumblebee]

40. Sure thing. Just go to DC and make them do it. I am sure they will.

If not, just offer to pay for it yourself.

[Lucky 13]

48. Well I'm already in DC about 6 blocks north of the White House.

So... that part's already done!!

[Bumblebee]

51. Good. Just do it then, including the second part.

[Lucky 13]

55. Ok, so I just ran down to Capitol Hill in a snowstorm and attempted to get Congress to "just do it".

But i was detained by security and escorted off the premesis!

So excuse me for saying so, but your plan seems a little "fucking retarded".

[Bumblebee]

57. who is "fucking retarded" in this exchange is likewise in the eyes of the beholder

Just allow me to form my own judgment on that score.

[Lucky 13]

60. Ok. Well, if you come up with a better plan than your last one, please let me know!!

:toast:

[dennis4868]

52. The differenve between now and before is...

before the tax cuts for the wealthy was not about to expire....now it is!

[TheKentuckian]

64. none of that justifies playing chicken with Social Security and funneling most of the money to the

top 20% of earners on debt.

The child credit is a reduction not an elimination and it is probably too high, actively acting as an incentive for increasing the population by effectively taking away from the childless outside of any real social contract.
I can probably be sold on this point enough to swallow it but I am certainly not fighting for this cut.

The college credit is nice but doesn't move the scale.

The increase on the bottom bracket sucks but either way they (plausibly we) will pay more than this year so the drama this is about them is an act. It bugs me to no end how few will admit that this is designed to mostly grease the top 20%. The 98% rhetoric is snake oil.
There never was a plan to focus stimulus where it is needed and would be most effective.

Nobody has even come out with a real tax stimulus because the first priority has always been to wet the beaks of the professional and upper classes in a vain effort to peel them from the wealthy or a cynical plot to weaken the possibility of killing the overall dumb, shrink the pig policy.

The piece that is meaningful and clearly the correct thing to do is the unemployment benefits and I'm incapable of a trillion dollar bill to get a fraction of that to fund what I want.

I'm against the payroll tax holiday in a fundamental way and would rather lose all the cuts I prefer than pad the pockets of those who don't need the resources. It isn't about spite or punishment either, it is because what we are doing is structurally suicidal and drains diminishing resources for largely wasteful purposes.

The Bush tax cuts were significantly bad policy. Not just for the richest Americans but broadly, the entire package.

[me b zola]

41. And this is what I am afraid of

That equal/civil/human rights for LBGT folks will be pitted against economic interest for all of us. We should not allow that to happen. I support civil rights and economic rights because they cannot be separated.

[Bumblebee]

49. you do not think most of the people here care for both equally? I sure hope so.

So what do you mean to say? That knowing that the DADT won't come to an end unless the vote is allowed to happen now somehow is pitting people against each other? In what way? And how isn't this an issue for all? I happen to be a happily married heterosexual female...

[me b zola]

62. Of course I believe that most people here care deeply for both

but the person that I was responding to voiced a fear that has been nagging at me, that cynical politicians will pit those issues against each other.

Please know that I care deeply about both, and in no way want the issues to be tied together let alone used against each other.

[monmouth]

59. I thought DADT was a stand-alone bill. Will it be affected?....n/t

[dgibby]

61. DADT passed in the House.

Senate has no control over what happens in the House. Reid met the repukes requirements in order to get other legislation passed. Of course, having said that, I have no expectation that the repukes will keep their end of the bargain, since thay never have.

[Reader Rabbit]

11. Could we be seeing an outbreak of backbone-itis?

:wow:

[gateley]

17. That would be exciting, although I'm STILL swinging back and forth on this. But balls-out

backbone would be good to see.

[Still a Democrat]

13. Relax

It's a delay.

[robinlynne]

16. Yeah! Go Dems!

[meegbear]

18. Here's the skinny from TalkingPointsMemo ...

Just a heads up for readers following this closely. The House is expected to pass the Obama tax cut plan later this afternoon, but a short time ago a rules vote that is a predicate to the vote on the bill turned into a test vote of support for the tax cut bill. Democrats quickly pulled the rule off the floor apparently because it lacked enough votes to pass.

To be clear, this doesn't necessarily mean the tax cut plan lacks the votes. It appears -- and we're still tracking this down -- that this was a protest vote by Democrats disgruntled that the leadership isn't giving them more time to vote on amendments to the tax cut bill.

If that's true, you would expect this to be resolved fairly quickly and the vote to continue has planned later in the afternoon. But this was an unexpected hiccup. More soon.


http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/12/bump_in_the_road.php?ref=fpblg

[Still a Democrat]

22. Thank you

The kind of information in the OP is mesleading.

[BrklynLiberal]

45. Thanks for the info. Too bad.

[unblock]

38. chances are this merely means a bit more pork for a few districts with swayable representatives.

better than than nothing, though i'd prefer something better for the country over all.

i'd like to see them push for a better deal, though i don't know how much the senate will give.
obama i'm fairly sure will go along with any marginal changes as long as he gets the deal done.

[Robyn66]

43. maybe I am just getting incredibly jaded

but it sounds like some smoke and mirrors to make it look like they are putting up a fight. This will pass by the end of the day.

[Poll_Blind]

47. Absolutely a possibility.

Until the actual vote I think there's going to be quite a bit of speculation about how serious an impediment this is.

PB

[Lucky 13]

56. Good call. You are probably right.

But a girl can hope, can't she?

[Robyn66]

58. You sure can, and I am right there with you!!! (nt)

[Krakowiak]

69. that's what it looks like to me (nt)

[dgibby]

63. If past is prologue,

the repukes will vote against this in a block, the Dems who are against it will lodge a protest, then swallow hard, and pass the bill; however, I wouldn't be surprised to see the vote delayed until tomorrow for the Fri. afternoon news dump.

[Warren DeMontague]

65. "The main reason why the bill is delayed is that House liberal Democrats wanted more opportunities

to publicly display their anger with the compromise."

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/12/16/5660770-tax-bill-hits-speed-bump-in-the-house

Don't get too excited, folks.

[spanone]

68. political posturing....dems should have shot this shit down 2 years ago

[littlewolf]

66. ok if this doesn't pass you can kiss

DADT, START, DREAM goodbye ....
they will spend the rest of the session on the budget or a Continuing Resolution

[MadHound]

67. Excellent news!

Hopefully this monstrosity will die a quiet death in the House.

[Still a Democrat]

70. Much ado about nothing

[kentuck]

71. It wasn't even close...

The votes were almost equally divided for the bill...