Vacations Can Wait, We Can’t: House to Work Overtime For Job Creation, Will POTUS And Senate Dems Clock In?
Today in Washington, D.C. - Dec 19, 2011:
The House is not in recess. It is expected this evening to vote on the Senate version (modification) of H.R. 3630 - Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011. Many representatives are upset both with the Senate passing the payroll bill for only two months and about Sen. Harry Reid doing the very thing that he falsely projected that the House would potentially doing. Reid adjourned the Senate and skipped town on recess in hopes the House Republicans would be forced to agree on their actions.
The House Speaker expects the House to vote down a bipartisan two-month extension of the payroll tax cut that passed the Senate and to request immediate negotiations on a full-year renewal. "It's time to stop the nonsense. We can resolve these differences and we can do it in a way that provides certainty for job creators and others," Boehner said at a news conference. "In this tough economy, middle class Americans need to know that their taxes won't be going up at any point next year.," Cantor said in a statement. "We are going to stay here and do our work until we guarantee that no one faces a tax increase in the year ahead."
Last week, Speaker Boehner said, In divided government, “we have to work overtime to find common ground to do what the American people sent us here to do. That’s why the Republican-led House will work to resolve differences with the Democratic-controlled Senate and give Congress another chance to fulfill the president’s request for a full-year extension of payroll tax relief. This is exactly how Congress agreed to responsibly fund the government for a full year: in a bipartisan, bicameral way."
Today, the Speaker's Office released the following statement:
The Democrats running the Senate, however, have left town – and intend to stay out – despite President Obama’s declaration that it “would be inexcusable” for Congress not to extend payroll tax relief for the full year. It was just days ago that these same senators – along with their counterparts in the House – were saying going on vacation would be unacceptable unless the president’s request was fulfilled:Other potential legislation "under suspension of the rules" which may be considered before the House recess are:Senate Democrats' bill – a step backward that would create more uncertainty for job creators already struggling under President Obama's failed economic policies – is not worth celebrating with American families. Families and small business owners asking 'where are the jobs?' ;deserve better than tax policy in two-month increments.
- “US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said today that the Senate won’t break for the holidays until Republicans and Democrats reach an agreement on extending the payroll tax cut. ‘We’re not going to leave town until it’s complete…’” (GlobalPost, 12/7/11)
- “The top Senate Democrats kept up the political gamesmanship…‘Don’t go home Speaker [John] Boehner, because we’re going to be here,’ said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). ‘And you’ll be embarrassed before the American people if you do.’“ (POLITICO, 12/7/11)
- In a recent statement, House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said, “we cannot leave for the holidays until we ensure that the payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits are extended and the Medicare physician payment rate is fixed."
- At a December 9, 2011 press conference, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said, “we can’t leave for the holidays without passing a payroll tax cut for the middle class.”
- “Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) channeled President Obama on Thursday in threatening lawmakers’ holiday break ... ‘We are not going to go home to celebrate until we can celebrate with American families.’” (The Hill, 12/8/11)
The president has said repeatedly that no one should be going on vacation until this work is done. Republicans agree. The question now is whether President Obama will live up to his words and hold members of his party to theirs so Congress can complete a one-year extension of payroll tax relief.
- H.Res. 497 - To provide for the placement of a statue or bust of Sir Winston Churchill in the United States Capitol (Sponsored by Rep. John Boehner / House Administration Committee)
- Senate Amendment to H.R. 2056 - To instruct the Inspector General of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to study the impact of insured depository institution failures, and for other purposes (Sponsored by Rep. Lynn Westmoreland / Financial Services Committee)
- Senate Amendment to& H.R. 1801 - Risk-Based Security Screening for Members of the Armed Forces Act (Sponsored by Rep. Chip Cravaack / Homeland Security Committee)
- Senate Amendment to H.R. 1059 - To protect the safety of judges by extending the authority of the Judicial Conference to redact sensitive information contained in their financial disclosure reports, and for other purposes (Sponsored by Rep. John Conyers / Judiciary Committee)
- Senate Amendment to H.R. 515 - Belarus Democracy and Human Rights Act of 2011 (Sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith / Foreign Affairs Committee)
On Saturday, the Senate voted 89-10 for a bill extending the payroll tax cut for 2 months and requiring the president to decide on the Keystone XL pipeline within 60 days.
Also Saturday the Senate voted 67-32 to approve the conference report for H.R. 2055, the vehicle for the omnibus appropriations bill that funds the government through the end of the current fiscal year (Sept. 30, 2012).
Obama Administration Hands Hezbollah Terrorist Over To Iraq, Instead Of Sending Him To Gitmo
The Daily Beast’s Eli Lake, reported on Saturday, “As it formally wrapped up war operations in Iraq, the Obama administration handed over terrorism suspect Ali Musa Daqduq to Baghdad’s government, dealing a blow to U.S. military and intelligence officials who wanted him tried by a U.S. tribunal on charges he plotted the killings of five American soldiers. The White House said Friday night it has tried to secure assurances from Iraq that Daqduq will be tried in that country for his role in the January 2007 killings, but U.S. intelligence fears he will eventually be released to Iran, where he has been linked to Hizbullah and the notorious Quds Force. . . . Daqduq was one of hundreds senior Shiite and al Qaeda suspects kept in detention centers on U.S. bases when Obama took office. But slowly, most of those prisoners were released. . . . One reason Daqduq could not be sent to the United States is that Obama had not allowed new detainees to be sent to the Guantánamo prison in Cuba. Intelligence officials are frustrated by the outcome. ‘This is one of many things we just dropped,’ one intelligence officer told The Daily Beast, predicting that some of those turned over by the U.S. in recent days will be released and ‘will go back to the Iranian terror machine.’”
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Armed Services Committee Republican Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Senate Homeland Security and Government Affair Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in a statement blasting the Obama administration’s decision. “It is disgraceful that Ali Musa Daqduq, a Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist believed to be responsible for the deaths of at least five U.S. servicemen in Iraq, will be handed over to the Iraqi government, rather than transferred to the custody of the United States to stand trial for his crimes in a military tribunal under the laws of war. Coming on the heels of the Administration’s failure to maintain a small American military presence in Iraq to support the fragile peace there, this failure to keep a committed murderer of Americans in U.S. custody sends exactly the wrong message to our allies and enemies in the region. The real test regarding Daqduq was not whether the United States should violate our security agreement with Iraq in order to maintain custody of him outside of the country. The real test was whether the United States could exercise our influence effectively with the Iraqi government to ensure that a committed killer of Americans would be held accountable for his crimes in the U.S. system of justice. The Administration has clearly failed that test. As a result, we are deeply concerned that Daqduq will never have to answer for his involvement in killing U.S. citizens, that he could be released from Iraqi custody for political reasons, and that he would then return to the fight against the United States and our friends.”
Saturday, In an editorial, The Wall Street Journal writes, “The Administration also thought of bringing Daqduq to the U.S. for trial in federal court or a military tribunal. Both ideas would have meant taking political heat, but at a minimum it showed that the status-of-forces deal was not an insuperable obstacle to keeping Daqduq in U.S. custody provided the Administration was determined to do so.
“Alas, it wasn’t. The one place Daqduq unquestionably belongs is in the prison at Guantanamo, which also happens to be the one place the Administration wouldn’t countenance having him. By now, even Mr. Obama understands that Gitmo serves a vital role in housing terrorists who either can’t be safely released or easily tried. Daqduq, the most senior Hezbollah figure in U.S. custody and a man who conspicuously disdained the laws of war, fits that bill.
“But even if Mr. Obama can’t close Gitmo as he promised, neither can he bring himself openly to acknowledge its benefits. Leftist furies are more than he’s willing to face. Instead, the Administration has made the calculation that one more terrorist kingpin on the loose with American blood on his hands is an acceptable price to pay for not establishing the precedent that new prisoners may again be brought to Guantanamo.”
Tags: Washington, D.C. US House, jobs, payroll tax, doctor fix, US Senate, vacations, Iraq, released terrorists. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
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