posted December 21, 2011 02:13 PM            

The president, who delayed his vacation to Hawaii because of the stalemate, telephoned and urged Boehner, R-Ohio, to bring his caucus members back for a vote and said it is the only viable way to give both sides time to complete work on a full-year extension of the payroll tax cut, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said.

The president also called Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to reaffirm that there will be work on a bipartisan plan after the two-month extention is passed, Carney said.

As the stalemate over the payroll tax cut extension drags on, House Republicans and Democrats both staged their own photo opportunities today to underline each party's failure to finish the people's work before lawmakers were released for the holidays.

In dueling displays of discontent, Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor held a media availability in his office while Democrats made a show of force on the House floor as they attempted a maneuver to pass the Senate's two-month extension.

"The House voted to reject the Senate bill and asked for a conference with the Senate where we could resolve the differences between the two Houses," Boehner said, flanked by Cantor and Rep. Renee Ellmers of North Carolina. "We're here and we're ready to go to work, and we're hoping that Senate Democrats will appoint negotiators, come to the table and resolve these differences."

Boehner wants Democrats to sit down for new talks before calling House members -- who are now on recess -- back for a vote. But Reid has rejected such a proposal, suggesting instead that Boehner bring his caucus back to first approve the two-month extension, and then restart talks.

"Once the House of Representatives acts on this immediate extension, we will be able to sit down and complete negotiations on a longer extension," Reid wrote in a letter to Boehner. "But because we have a responsibility to assure middle-class families that their taxes will not go up while we work out our differences, we must pass this immediate extension first."

A row of chairs for Democratic negotiators sat empty across the long conference table, but across the Capitol, two senior Democrats protested the House's opposition to a temporary extension.

As Pennsylvania GOP freshman Michael Fitzpatrick, who was serving as presiding officer, attempted to slam the gavel and end this morning's pro forma session, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer and Budget ranking member Chris Van Hollen attempted to delay recess by bringing up the Senate's two-month extension of the payroll tax credit and unemployment benefits by unanimous consent.

"Mr. Speaker!" Hoyer, D-Md., shouted. "Mr. Speaker, we'd like to ask for unanimous consent that we bring up the bill to extend the tax cut for 160 million Americans as you walk off the floor Mr. Speaker."

As the procession and Fitzpatrick left the chamber, Hoyer voiced his objections.

"You're walking out!" he complained. "You're walking away just as so many Republicans have walked away from middle class taxpayers, the unemployed, and very frankly as well from those who will be seeking medical assistance from their doctors, 48 million senior citizens."

As he yielded to Van Hollen, the House studio cameras went dark and the microphones were cut off, silencing the House Democrat.

"You have an extreme right-wing element in the House of Representatives that has hijacked the process," Van Hollen, D-Md., said afterwards. "They are afraid of bipartisanship."

House Republicans have earned the ire of conservatives and much political backlash resulting from the payroll tax debate that has gridlocked Congress.

Though the House passed its own one-year extension of the popular Bush-era tax cuts and unemployment benefits well ahead of the Senate, the two sides have failed to reach an agreement on the extension and the House GOP leadership has been publicly blamed for a "fiasco" that could have significant implications in an election year.

The latest shot against House Republicans came today from the Wall Street Journal editorial board -- considered the bastion of conservative opinion -- deriding the Republicans for losing on the tax issue to President Obama.

"The GOP leaders have somehow managed the remarkable feat of being blamed for opposing a one-year extension of a tax holiday that they are surely going to pass. This is no easy double play," the editorial stated. "Republicans have also achieved the small miracle of letting Mr. Obama position himself as an election-year tax cutter, although he's spent most of his presidency promoting tax increases and he would hit the economy with one of the largest tax increases ever in 2013. This should be impossible."

On Tuesday, House Republicans voted to reject the bipartisan Senate-passed bill, demanding a formal conference to work out their differences and pass a long-term solution instead of what they say is another short-term fix. But Democratic leaders publicly vowed not to appoint any conferees to the negotiations.

The tax cuts benefit 160 million Americans and are set to expire at the end of the year. Starting in January, Americans would see a 2 percent increase in their taxes. Also starting Jan. 1, Medicare would withhold doctors' reimbursement for two weeks until an extension on cuts is negotiated.

Congress members can pass a bill once they return from their holiday break and apply the tax breaks retroactively. But the stalemate and lack of negotiations could have a lasting impact on Americans, especially in an election year in which Republicans wanted to retain majority control of the Senate.

That, many say, could be jeopardized by such deadlocks as this one.

posted December 21, 2011 03:14 PM            

"It appears someone in House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) office cut the feed, as C-SPAN tweeted afterwords: “C-SPAN has no control over the U.S. House TV cameras – the Speaker of the House does.”

Watch it

posted December 21, 2011 03:47 PM            

Makes no sense whatsoever to do this all over again in 60 days.

Oh wait, I know why.

O'Bomber wants to jet off to Hawaii. Reid wants to jet off to Las Vegas and Pee-Lousy wants to rejoin her coven of Socialists in San Francisco.

posted December 21, 2011 05:23 PM            

Had your fave Nancy girl pulled that stunt as SOTH you would have created no less than five shrieking threads about it

posted December 22, 2011 03:07 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by jwhop:
The pharmacy is still on my "to do" list Node.

I'm not rich enough to have full time psychiatrists and pharmacologists on my staff...like O'Bomber, O'Biden, Hairy Reed and Nancy Pee-Lousy!

---

Hey jwhop.. you would if you were one of the 99 (so called)% that lives on the taxpayers dime.. you know.. the ones that have a full time therapist, life coach and on and on.. the ones that can pretend to care about the economy and then go back to their parents million dollar home.

posted December 22, 2011 02:18 PM            

i really feel for you, graduating from college and ONLY making 60K per year with which to pay off your debts. as a single young woman with excess degrees i'm sure it was REALLY HARD to manage, back in the dismal 90s...

that is why you so EMPATHIZE with people who work for minimum wage trying to raise a family in the current environment. right?

in fact, make it a month. i highly recommend to anyone who has never had to live on government "handouts" - even though when working they PAID their share toward these "freebies" - that before you talk about how lazy and greedy they are, you try LIVING on what is doled out. especially with children.

don't pack any clothes that are less than a couple of years old, because the person whose life you are inhabiting has probably not bought any recently. enjoy feeding the kids on foodstamp allowance, paying the bills and LIVING IT UP on what the govt "gives" you.

better yet, since ALL INDIGENTS ENJOY SECT 8 HOUSING, go find some! and enjoy WAITING FOR 5 or 6 YEARS for a chance to get on the list.

this supposedly CHRISTIAN nation is nothing of the sort. the poor PAY INTO the system even when on minimum wage. appr. ONE HALF of the country is living below the "poverty line" - fancy them not paying taxes!! shame!!

posted December 24, 2011 09:54 AM            

Are you ready for a windfall? Well, O'Bomber has arranged to have $40 fall into your pockets...if you make $50K per year. Less if your earnings are more modest.

O'Bomber really showed those nasty Republicans. Imagine that! Republicans wanted to give Americans a $1000 payroll tax holiday but O'Bomber, Reid, Shumer and other demoscats demanded Republicans scale it down to only $40.

Don't spend it all in one place!

posted December 24, 2011 04:12 PM            

1. demoscats are making deliberate, intentional war on the US economy, the American Middle Class and working men and women.

OR

2. The current crop of Marxist Socialist Progressives in the demoscat Congress are the shiiiit for brains idiots I've said they are.

Case in point.

These morons passed a 2 month extension of the payroll tax holiday which puts about $40 dollars in working people's pockets. Republicans wanted a 1 year tax holiday putting $1000 in employee's pockets.

But, guess how this is to be paid for?

A new tax on the sale of homes.

Our numb-nuts demoscats haven't yet figured out that it was the collapse of real estate sales and declining market values which kicked off the economic disaster in the first place.

Now, the morons want to make homes more expensive to buy by raising mortgage insurance rates, lender fees and broker fees...all of which will be passed on to purchasers...and not for just 2 months!

Most people have no idea how many industries, trades and people are involved in home construction.

But, instead of encouraging this sector of the economy, the morons are making it more difficult and more expensive for purchasers to buy a home.

A BILL

To extend the payroll tax holiday, unemployment compensation, Medicare physician payment, provide for the consid-eration of the Keystone XL pipeline, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled.

posted December 24, 2011 04:28 PM            

this is a TWO MONTH bill and the reason those real estate taxes are on there is because the republicans flat out refuse to take a few pennies on the dollar from those who already have plenty of homes and will probably be "INVESTING" in many of the foreclosed ones around as the latest real estate get rich routine...

funny, when a poor person gets a windfall or an extra good year, everyone around them gets some! they are willing to share and to spare whenever possible. maybe that is why they are poor.

but i have many times heard that john rockefeller started his upward momentum when he decided to TITHE...give away 10%...and whoopee, if you give it in the right place it saves you paying uncle sam, so ev'ybody happy!

very few people on the "dole" can afford a drug habit. while wall street is floating in cocaine and highpriced call girls' bellies to snort it off, and obviously NO one is drugtesting them.

better to pick on the guy who HAS to walk down the street and MAY have smoked some weed in the last few weeks, a much easier mark for sure!

but jwhop, describing this extension as $40 in your pocket is misleading to say the least. i agree that it is poxy agreeing to only 2 months, but once again having pushed the "stall button" to the max, that was all that was left for them to pass!

and you KNOW it was not obama saying it had to be done, but the DISMAL polls which showed overwhelming disapproval of the way congress has been spinning its wheels ALL YEAR. yes, if you want to see 2012 as a continuation of 2012's direction, you'd better write them one of your letters and tell them to PULL THEIR FINGERS OUT AND DO SOMETHING SOON!

posted December 24, 2011 07:59 PM            

Bills are rarely clean and simple, especially for the just say no crowd.