TPMDC Conference Committee
John Boehner
House GOP Coalesces Around Plan To Reject Bipartisan Payroll Tax Compromise
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Houser Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA)
After a much-longer-than-anticipated caucus meeting Monday night, House Republican leaders announced a plan to vote Tuesday to nix a broadly bipartisan Senate stopgap bill to extend the current payroll tax cut for two months. But they won't be doing this with a standard up or down vote.
The development comes after House conservatives launched a full scale rebellion against a Senate bill negotiated by Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell that passed with an overwhelming 89 votes.
However House Republicans are aware of the political peril that will come with killing a bipartisan plan to extend the payroll tax cut, and they know they'll likely be held responsible if the tax holiday expires. So they're structuring the votes in a manner that's designed to give their members cover from that charge and, perhaps, preserves their right to reconsider the Senate bill in the coming days.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Conference Committee, Doc fix, Eric Cantor, Harry Reid, John Boehner, Payroll Tax Cut, Unemployment
Scott Brown
Dems Continue To Pursue Brown On Wall Street Bill
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT)
Democrats are hoping to reopen the Wall Street reform conference committee today, after a series of GOP objections (and Robert Byrd's death) put the vote count for the legislation in serious doubt in the Senate. (Late update: The conference committee will reconvene today at 5 p.m.)
Currently, according to multiple aides, House and Senate negotiators are trying to come up with a new way to pay for the legislation. Republican Sens. Scott Brown and Susan Collins have objected to a plan to raise $19 billion over 10 years by imposing a fee on major financial firms. Paygo rules require the bill to be paid for, though, and that means raising money from...somewhere. Ideas being kicked around include dipping into unused TARP funds, and forcing banks to pay higher premiums for FDIC insurance.
That latter option would force even small depository institutions to pay for the cost of regulatory reform. The previous tax would have impacted major institutions only.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Conference Committee, Democrats, Harry Reid, Maria Cantwell, Scott Brown, Wall Street
© 2011 TPM Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
