Tuesday, December 20, 2011

House Votes Not to Vote on Payroll Tax Cut and Unemployment Benes Extension

This is how it all went down. Obama said he wanted a long-term extension of the payroll tax cuts and unemployment benefits, but the Senate republicans said all they could do was a temporary extension and then they'd work on a long-term extension after the holidays. Obama agreed to that and the Senate passed the bill. Then the House republicans, which were thought to be on board with the Senate republicans, turned around and changed their mind. Now here we are. Can the republicans make things any messier?
The House voted Tuesday to disagree with the Senate-passed payroll tax bill, and to call for a House-Senate conference to sort out differences between the bills.
The move is intended to put pressure on Senate Democrats to reconvene and meet with the House over the bill, even as Democrats say the Senate is done for the year.
The move also raises the likelihood that workers will see their payroll taxes rise in January when the current tax cut expires. the Hill

Republican Sen. Scott Brown had this to tweet:
House Republicans’ plan to scuttle the deal to help middle-class families is irresponsible and wrong.


It's the tea party republicans in the House vs. the other republicans: