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US Economy - Page 13

Republican leadership aides tell CNN that after votes Tuesday, the House will go into recess but return if the Senate agrees to come back into session and work out differences in extending the payroll tax cuts that expire at the end of the year.

The Democratic-controlled Senate on Saturday passed a two-month extension of the tax cuts, which amount to about $1,000 for the average American, and sent it to the Republican-controlled House for its approval. Congressional and White House negotiators had tried to work out a one-year extension, but the Senate fell back to the two-month extension to buy more time for more negotiations without the cuts expiring on December 31.

The House Tuesday has scheduled votes to reaffirm that it favors a yearlong extension and that it wants the Senate to return to work out differences. A vote scheduled for Monday night on the Senate's plan was canceled.

Democratic leadership aides in the Senate insist they won't budg e on their position -- they won't negotiate until the House passes the two-month extension that the Senate passed with bipartisan support. Ref. CNN

Economy US

President Barack Obama called on House Republicans to bring the Senate-approved, payroll tax-cut extension to a vote after the House passed a resolution disapproving of the Senate bill. The House had called on the Senate to return to the Capitol to work out their differences.

The Democratic-controlled Senate on Saturday passed a two-month extension of the tax cuts, which affects about 160 million Americans and is worth about $1,000 to the average American. But the Republican-controlled House on Monday night called off a scheduled vote on the Senate bill and instead on Tuesday passed a resolution along party lines that called on senators to return from their holiday recess to work out their differences in a conference committee.

House Speaker John Boehner said Republicans insist on a yearlong extension and that anything less is "kicking the can down the road."

Senate Democratic leadership aides told CNN on Tuesday that Democrats have no intention of returning to Washington until the House votes on the bill they passed with wide bipartisan support. Ref. CNN

US Economy History & Civil Business Politics

The House of Representatives completed its business for the day and left for a holiday break, leaving unresolved the fate of a payroll tax cut extension that could mean $1,000 to the average American family when it expires on December 31.

The Republican-controlled House on Tuesday voted to call for the Senate to return from its holiday recess for further talks on the bill it passed with overwhelming bipartisan support on Saturday that would extend the cuts for two months. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid negotiated the bill with Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to allow more time to reach a deal on a longer extension while avoiding a lapse in the cuts.

House Speaker John Boehner had scheduled a direct vote on the Senate plan on Monday but canceled it and called for a resolution stating House Republicans' disagreement with the two-month extension and calling for the Senate to return for a conference committee. Reid has said the Senat e won't return until the House votes on the Senate's plan.

Boehner later went public with a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to order the Senate back to the Capitol for a conference committee. But Obama made an unscheduled appearance at the daily White House news briefing and accused Republicans of trying to "wring concessions from Democrats on issues that have nothing to do with the payroll tax cut."

The payroll tax cuts affect about 160 million Americans. The Senate bill also extended emergency unemployment benefits and delayed scheduled pay cuts to Medicare physicians for two months. Ref. CNN

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Armed with the top Senate Republican's recommendation that the Republican-controlled House give in on the standoff over a payroll tax cut extension, President Obama on Thursday again called for the House to pass the two-month extension passed in the Senate before the cuts expire December 31.

"Americans can't afford $1,000 because of some stupid standoff in Washington," Obama said while flanked by men and women who he said had responded to the White House's "What does $40 mean to you" Twitter and Facebook campaign.

The tax cut extension, which means about $1,000 to the average taxpayer, affects about 160 million Americans.

Earlier Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, urged House Republicans to support a short-term extension of the tax holiday -- similar to a two-month bipartisan measure passed overwhelmingly by the Senate and now demanded by both Obama and congressional Democrats -- while encouraging the Senate to negotiate a longer extension with the House.

"House Republicans sensibly want greater certainty about the duration of these provisions, while Senate Democrats want more time to negotiate the terms," McConnell said in a written statement. "These goals are not mutually exclusive. We can and should do both."

But House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, pushed back, reiterating in a statement his call for negotiators to craft an immediate one-year tax cut extension -- something now considered unlikely by most congressional observers.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, later released a statement promising that he will be "happy to restart the negotiating process to forge a year-long extension" as soon as the House passes the Senate's two-month compromise deal.

The Senate bill also extends emergency federal unemployment benefits and the so-called "doc fix," a delay in significant scheduled pay cuts to Medicare physicians. All three measures are scheduled to expire December 31. Ref. CNN

Economy US

House Speaker John Boehner says he and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid agreed to a two-month extension of a payroll tax cut that was due to expire at the end of the year.

The terms were previously included in a bipartisan Senate deal and demanded by President Barack Obama. The deal comes hours after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, called for a short-term extension, increasing pressure on House GOP leaders.

The agreement also includes language to ease the administrative burden on small businesses implementing the plan.

"The Senate will join the House in immediately appointing conferees, with instructions to reach agreement in the weeks ahead on a full-year payroll tax extension," Boehner said in a statement. "We will ask the House and Senate to approve this agreement by unanimous consent before Christmas." Ref. CNN

US Economy

The Democratic-controlled Senate passed an amended version of the two-month payroll tax cut extension Friday, contingent on what is now a virtually certain final approval by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

The measure passed by unanimous consent, a procedural move allowing the measure to pass even though most members of Congress are home for the holidays.

President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill shortly, handing a defeat to House Republicans and wrapping up a legislative year marked by repeated partisan brinksmanship and declining public approval of a seemingly dysfunctional Congress.

House and Senate members are now expected to resume negotiations on a year-long extension of the tax cut when Congress reconvenes in January. Ref. CNN

US Economy - Page 13

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed an amended version of the two-month payroll tax cut extension Friday, following approval in the Senate, and sent it to President Obama for his signature.

The measure passed in both chambers by unanimous consent, a procedural move allowing the measure to go forward even though most members of Congress are home for the holidays.

Obama is expected to sign the bill shortly, handing a defeat to House Republicans and wrapping up a legislative year marked by repeated partisan brinksmanship and declining public approval of a seemingly dysfunctional Congress.

House and Senate members are now expected to resume negotiations on a year-long extension of the tax cut when Congress reconvenes in January.

GOP leaders first questioned the merit of the tax cut and then complained that a short-term extension would be more trouble than it's worth, but Obama used the standoff to portray the Republicans as de fenders of the rich with a callous attitude toward the burdens of the middle class.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, finally succumbed Thursday to calls from across the political spectrum for House Republicans to stop blocking congressional approval of the bipartisan two-month extension previously approved by the Senate.

Under the deal, the payroll tax will remain at the current 4.2% rate instead of reverting to the 6.2% rate it was at before the cut was enacted last year. Without congressional action, the higher rate would have returned in 2012, meaning an average $1,000 tax increase for 160 million Americans. The typical worker's take home salary will shrink by about $40 per pay period without the tax cut.

The agreement also includes the addition of legislative language to ease the administrative burden on small businesses implementing the plan, and a commitment to the negotiations on a one-year extension of the payroll tax cut as well as other benefits. Ref. CNN

US Economy Politics Business Civil & History - Page 13

The Obama administration will formally ask Congress later this week to raise the nation's debt ceiling by $1.2 trillion, a Treasury Department official tells CNN.

The latest request is the third of three requests authorized by the contentious debt ceiling agreement reached last August. It's expected to come on December 30 -- the day the debt is projected to fall within $100 billion of the current $15.194 trillion ceiling. The new request asks that the ceiling be raised to $16.39 trillion.

According to the terms of the debt ceiling agreement, Congress has 15 days to pass a joint resolution disapproving of an increase, which President Obama is authorized to veto.

The new debt ceiling is expected to satisfy U.S. Debts until the end of next year, according to the Treasury Department official.