House Speaker John Boehner said he thinks Republicans and Democrats in Congress will agree to a payroll tax-cut extension.
“We are in a formal conference with the Senate, and I’m confident that we’ll be able to resolve this fairly quickly,” the Ohio Republican said on ABC’s “This Week” program.
A short-term extension of the payroll tax cut expires Feb. 29. The two parties disagree on how to pay for the plan and whether all the costs must be offset. Unless Congress acts, the 2 percentage point payroll tax break for employees will lapse, as will emergency unemployment benefits.
Boehner told ABC that a provision approving the Keystone XL pipeline will be attached to legislation that would expand oil and gas drilling if the pipeline isn’t approved first.
Last month, Republicans succeeded in adding language to the short-term payroll tax-cut extension agreement requiring Obama to decide on the pipeline within 60 days.
Obama rejected the permit on Jan. 18, saying the deadline didn’t leave enough time to consider alternatives to the original pipeline route, which went through the environmentally sensitive Sand Hills region in Nebraska.
The lawmakers now are backing a bill that would require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve the permit within 30 days, so long as it meets safety requirements.
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5 comments:
Boehner told ABC that a provision approving the Keystone XL pipeline will be attached to legislation that would expand oil and gas drilling if the pipeline isn’t approved first.
What does a pipline route have anything to do with extending tax cuts?
This is the problem with politics
Because Obama won't pass it on it's own.
Before you think extending the payroll tax cut is a good thing remember that these taxes are there to pay for entitlements (i.e. Social Security ). By extending them you are just hastening the day when they go bankrupt. In the short term we will keep borrowing money to fund social security and keep going further in debt. Just bad economic policy.
Another example of this administration using politics to cover up bad/harmful policy.
This is what really gripes me about Washington.
The Keystone shouldn't even be connected to the payroll tax cut bill!
Rules need to be changed in Washington and bills need to stand on their own.
Clear yay or nay vote on ONE issue, ONE item!
Do away with this "bundling" of bills which equates into nothing more than the "hiding" of requests.
The way the system works now is why you can't just judge an official on their voting record. It may show they voted no on something very important to someone but unless they look at what else was slipped in as an add-on to the main bill, they won't understand how the vote could have been no.
So, do your research people and don't just rely on the straight up yay or nay voting.
Fix this nonsense and you'll see Congress' approval rating improve because they'll actually be more transparent!
11:12am...that is so true. You really have no idea where somebody stands on an issue or bill because of what's attached to it. Democrats and Republicans have been doing this for years. Nothing more corrupt or sickening than Politics. And the saddest thing is that unless the system changes, it makes no difference whom you vote for, our country will be broken!
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