Dems may drop millionaires tax in year-end dispute

Congress and Senate are supposed to go on their holiday break until January 2012 .. looks like they have to resolve this before they go ... jmo, kel

December 14, 2011

Dems may drop millionaires tax in year-end dispute

Washington, Democrats may jettison their demand for higher taxes on millionaires as part of legislation to extend Social Security tax cuts for most Americans, officials said Wednesday as President Barack Obama and Congress struggled to clear critical year-end bills without triggering a partial government shutdown.

Republicans, too, signaled an eagerness to avoid gridlock and adjourn for the holidays. With a massive, $1 trillion funding bill blocked by Democrats, GOP lawmakers and aides floated the possibility of a backup measure to keep the government in operation for several days after the money runs out Friday night.

It all comes at the close of a year of divided government — with a tea party-flavored majority in the House and Obama's allies in the Senate — that has veered from near- catastrophe to last-minute compromise repeatedly since last January.

The rhetoric Wednesday was biting at times.

"We have fiddled all year long, all year," the Republican leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, complained in a less-than-harmonious exchange on the Senate floor with Majority Leader Harry Reid.

McConnell accused Democrats of "routinely setting up votes designed to divide us ... to give the president a talking point out on the campaign trail."

Reid shot back that McConnell had long ago declared Obama's defeat to be his top priority. And he warned that unless Republicans show a willingness to bend, the country faces a government shutdown "that will be just as unpopular" as the two that occurred when Newt Gingrich was House speaker more than a decade ago.

It was a reminder — as if McConnell and current Speaker John Boehner of Ohio needed one — of the political debacle that ensued for Republicans when Gingrich was outmaneuvered in a showdown with former President Bill Clinton.

At issue now are three year-end bills that Obama and leaders in both parties in Congress say they want. One would extend expiring Social Security payroll tax cuts and benefits for the long-term unemployed, provisions at the heart of Obama's jobs program. Another is the $1 trillion spending measure that would lock in cuts that Republicans won earlier in the year. The third measure is a $662 billion defense bill setting policy for military personnel, weapons systems and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, plus national security programs in the Energy Department.

After a two-day silence, the White House said Obama would sign the measure despite initial concern over a provision requiring the military to take custody of any suspect deemed to be a member of al-Qaida or its affiliates and involved in plotting or committing attacks on the United States. U.S. citizens would be exempt.

Reid and other top Democratic senators met with Obama at the White House at mid-afternoon, and congressional aides said the topic was the end-of-year legislation.

Democrats have made the proposed millionaires' tax central to their plan for the payroll tax cut extension, and officials stressed no decision had been made on whether to drop it. They spoke on condition of anonymity to talk about legislative strategy.

Any such move would represent a concession to the Republicans in both houses who are opposed to the surtax. But it could also require Democrats to agree to politically painful savings elsewhere in the budget to replace the estimated $140 billion the tax would have raised over a decade.

In its most recent form, the surtax would have slapped a 1.9 percent tax on income in excess of $1 million, with the proceeds helping pay for the extension of tax cuts for 160 million workers. Senate Democrats have twice forced votes on the proposal in what officials have described as a political maneuver designed to force GOP lawmakers to choose between protecting the wealthy on the one hand and extending tax cuts for millions on the other.

Wednesday's maneuvering occurred the day after the House passed a payroll tax extension that contained no higher taxes. That House measure drew a veto threat from Obama that cited spending cuts the White House said would harm the middle class without requiring a sacrifice from the wealthy.

The bill would repeal nearly $43 billion from the year-old health care bill; extend a pay freeze on federal retirees while also increasing their pension contributions; and raise Medicare premiums on seniors with incomes over $80,000 beginning in 2017. It also would raise a fee that is charged to banks whose mortgages are guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Obama's veto message also alluded to a requirement for the construction of an oil pipeline from Canada to Texas that Republicans said would create 20,000 jobs. The provision is designed to force the administration's hand, since Obama announced recently that despite three years of review under two administrations, he was putting off a decision until after the election.

The measure would permit Obama to block the Keystone XL project if he deemed its construction to be not in the national interest.

The House-passed bill also includes an extension of unemployment benefits that would scale back what is currently in place. The White House said 3.3 million people would be cut off under its terms. Another part of the bill, to block proposed regulations limiting toxic emissions from industrial incinerators, drew objections from the White House.

The legislation would avert a threatened 27 percent cut in payments to doctors who treat Medicare patients, and Obama and Democrats are willing to accept that.—

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Senate Vote Friday ~ Obama Promotes Jobs Bill Before Scranton Crowd ..(Remember ..Put the millionaires' tax money to good use) ...

Snip ~ The payroll deduction extension is scheduled for a Senate vote Friday. He urged people to pressure senators to support it.

Remember .. Obama to Raise Taxes on US Millionaires ... And ..Put the millionaires' tax money to good use and creating the "National Infrastructure bank" ... And ..National Infrastructure Bank ~ Obama Mentions Infrastructure Again ~ Remember ~ 2009 Obama Infrastructure Bank Takes Shape ... And .. Obama's Infrastructure Bank ~ Links ~ What is it? What's The Plan? ...

December 1, 2011

Obama promotes jobs bill before Scranton crowd

Scranton, President Barack Obama delivered an enthusiastic defense of his jobs bill Wednesday before a raucous Scranton High School crowd of students, residents and activists.

The president said his American Jobs Act will grow the economy by 2 percent. The proposal seeks money for construction of roads, bridges and schools. He also calls for an extension of a payroll tax cut, set to expire at the end of the year, that he said has saved a typical family $1,000.

To pay for it, he proposes raising income taxes on those earning at least $1 million annually.

"It's paid for by asking our wealthiest citizens to pay their fair share," Obama said. "There is a problem. The folks in Congress haven't got the message."

Continues ...read more ..

The payroll deduction extension is scheduled for a Senate vote Friday. He urged people to pressure senators to support it.

"This really should not be controversial," the president said. "The Republicans have supported this proposal in the past."

He suggested some Republicans oppose the payroll deduction now because they don't want to boost the economy when the president stands for re-election next year.

"I hope they don't want to just score political points," he said. "I'm in the Christmas spirit. I want to give them a chance to redeem themselves."

The president was upbeat. The capacity audience hung on his words and cheered frequently. One member of the national press corps remarked that there was much more enthusiasm among President Obama and the crowd, compared to his last Pennsylvania appearance in Pittsburgh on Oct. 11.

The president acknowledged that typical families are still reeling from a tough economy. He blamed past excesses on Wall Street and in the housing market, and a failure of Congress to act. He vowed to do all he can using his executive powers.

"We all know families making deep sacrifices just to get along," he said. "Here's the good news, Scranton: Just like you don't quit, I don't quit."

He pointed to reforms he said make it easier to repay student loans and an initiative to help returning veterans find jobs.

"You shouldn't have to fight for a job when you come home after fighting for America," the president said.

East Stroudsburg resident Paul Shemansky shook hands with the president immediately following the address, telling Obama he gave a good speech. Shemansky, an organizer with the Pennsylvania State Education Association teachers union, said the president is "offering ideas, instead of saying, 'No, we can't do that.'"

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