President Obama has been going around telling Republicans not to be a Grinch, and to pass a bill extending the payroll tax cut. (That will leave Social Security underfunded.) The Republicans have caved under the pressure, all they ask is that approval for the Keystone XL pipeline goes through so jobs can be created, and that there be no tax increases. President Obama has threatened to veto the bill.
What’s so offensive that would cause the President to level a veto threat? A provision in H.R. 3630, the “Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011,” that would provide for the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline project that would bring oil from Canada. Heritage’s Nicolas Loris explains that it would mean “access to easy imports from our northern neighbor, the creation of thousands of jobs, and the generation of revenue for the states where the pipeline passes. Montana, South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Texas are collectively projected to collect $5.2 billion in property tax revenue as a result of building the pipeline.”
Well, he’s not just vetoing the creation of thousands of jobs. He also wants a tax hike on the rich, even though he’s previously admitted that raising taxes in this rotten economy is a bad idea. Republicans want to offset the loss of revenue by freezing government salaries.
But rather than imposing a tax increase to offset the costs, as Democrats wanted, the Republican proposed a freeze on spending for federal salaries.
I guess Obama was for a federal wage freeze before he was against it. By I digress.
As it turns out, Obama may not have to veto anything, thanks to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), who said that if Republicans include anything in the bill the Democrats don’t like he will allow the government to shut down. He’s tying the tax cut extension to the omnibus funding bill. The Hill reported:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is holding a $1 trillion omnibus spending bill hostage to win leverage in a separate fight over taxes, GOP lawmakers claimed Tuesday.
The GOP members said Reid is ordering Democratic conferees on the spending bill to not sign off on a deal so that he can keep the House in session to work on legislation extending the payroll tax backed by President Obama.
The House is set to vote on their version of the payroll bill on Tuesday, but Senate Democrats oppose the measure.
If the omnibus moved forward, the House could move its payroll bill and the omnibus and leave town, leaving it up to the Senate either to approve the GOP payroll tax cut bill or to let it die. This would put Reid and Senate Democrats in a tough position, since they could get the blame for letting the tax cut expire.
But by holding up the omnibus, Reid could keep both chambers in town until a compromise is reached on the tax bill, since neither party wants to risk a government shutdown.
If Congress does not approve either the omnibus bill or a continuing resolution to keep the government funded by Friday, most of the government would shut down.
Another thing the Democrats are against is an amendment to one of the bills allowing us to keep buying incandescent light bulbs. Well, Democrats certainly can’t allow that, now, can they?
Addendum: They are voting now in the House on the payroll tax cut extension bill. It looks like it’s going to pass on a party-line vote. So it will be sent to the Senate and Harry Reid will play his nasty little political game of chicken.
Update: The House did pass the bill, and if it makes it to Obama’s desk he’ll veto it.
Update 2: Scared Monkeys linked – thank you!
This from the man who believes that billionaires do not create jobs! Huh?
This is a Democratic Party ego trip! The Democratic Party seems dedicated to disrupt dismay and destroy the citizenry. Equally bizarre, they are intentionally under-funding the system they tout as the cornerstone of their platform: Social Security! Next year, the Democrats will try to flip the problem into the laps of the Republicans as culprits in the Social Security quagmire.
The president has already predicted the demise of Social Security, and is intent on redistributing that money into his donor’s pockets.
Additionally the Republican House needs to keep the pressure up and not allow the vacationer-in-chief along with the Senate to sabotage the democratic process of making decisions based on the needs of the people as opposed to the desires of the party! This is extortion by the left and their prepaid media outlets!
As conservatives, we must get the truth out about a malignant system that seeks to absorb our capitalist way of life. In the inner circle power, capitalist are the infidels, and 9-11 was their first blow!
Let’s send Reid back home to tend his trees and let the work of government be done by people who believe that America still stands for right.
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I emailed my senators and told them to beat the Dems with this stick:
“If the Democrats kill this bill, then they don’t want to help working Americans, or help Americans find work.”
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There’s no censorship. Your comment remains, if anyone wants to see it all they have to do is one extra click. It’s just a nice way of making you easier to ignore. If only we could do that at parties.
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Your naivete is touching. Please don’t vote or breed.
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Hurry, get retested and demand your tuition money back!
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Please explain exactly how a pipeline bill is appropriately a part of an extension of a tax break on a huge number of working, struggling Americans….
…without it being political gamesmanship? Ya wanna tax break, do a tax break – don’t throw in something unrelated (and, puh-lease – just labeling it some kind of job stimulus measure doesn’t make it any less political.)
Sure, Democrats play the same game. But aren’t we all absolutely SICK AND TIRED of these games, on BOTH sides? Admit it – you’d HATE it if the shoe were on the other foot.
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[...] an extension of the payroll tax holiday by “telling Republicans not to be Grinch,” says The Lonely Conservative. Well, the GOP “caved.” In return, Republicans are merely asking for the job-creating [...]
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