Posted on 12/16/2010 12:22:08 PM PST by Red Steel
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team are working this afternoon to reach a solution to move forward on the tax cuts legislation after Democratic opposition to proceed on the bill forced the Democratic leadership to pull the tax cuts package from the floor.
Democratic leadership pulled the tax cuts bill from the floor after it became apparent that liberals would not vote to pass the Rule, according to a senior Democratic leadership aide.
The Democratic aide says that while the minority party never votes for rules and Democrats were not counting on Republican support to pass the rule, today it became "clear the votes weren’t quite there" from House Democrats either.
Rep. Louise Slaughter, the chairwoman of the House Rules Committee, explained the concerns raised by the majority of House Democrats, telling reporters that Democratic members were frustrated that they would not get the opportunity for a clear vote on the underlying tax cuts bill.
"This was a concurring resolution, and it's different in lots of ways, and the way this was written was if Pomeroy [amendment to change the estate tax break] passes under a concurring resolution, [the tax cuts legislation] goes right immediately back to the Senate, and there's no other vote on this bill,” Slaughter said. “A lot of our members would like another vote, chance to vote no, or yes, maybe someone. And that's the discussion."
When asked which members specifically had a problem with the way the rule was structured, Slaughter let out a hearty laugh and said, "Just about everybody, would be my best answer, including me!"
Slaughter, D-New York, said House Democrats are now devising a strategy to move forward with the bill and she planned to go over the options this afternoon with the House Parliamentarian.
Some House Democrats said that by adding $858 billion to the deficit, the House will be forced to cut spending from other programs that need the money.
“Just two weeks ago the President’s position was the same as the vast majority of the caucus,” Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. said. “We compromised and the President changed his position. We respect that. He needs to move the country forward. Our question is at what cost?”
The most vocal gripe from House Democrats is that they want to change the estate tax to levels passed by the House last year that would exempt inheritances up to $3.5 million and tax estates at a 45 percent rate.
“The White House supports the White House bill, their message has been consistent,” Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, said. “We’d like to improve the bill and make it less expensive.”
Wednesday evening, Pelosi said the Pomeroy amendment would save $25 billion from being added the deficit, and would affect only 6,600 more families than the lower rate and higher exemption in the tax deal negotiated by President Obama and GOP leaders in Congress.
“We always have a continuing feast of debate in our Caucus over the subjects that seem very unfair to Members there — where we have a situation where we have a proposal before us that gives 6,600 families in America $25 billion and holds the rest of the provisions in the bill, the middle-income tax cuts, those kinds of issues hostage to that blackmail,” Pelosi said. “Think of what you could do with that $25 billion. You could address the issues that affect America’s families very directly—their health, cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, diabetes, heart disease, you name it. There is a crying need for more funding for research in those directions. We could raise a small piece of it, raise the salaries of our teachers across the country. We could create jobs. Instead, we are giving tax cuts to 6,600 families that do not create jobs, that increase the deficit, and that are unfair to the middle class.”
House Democrats are expected to meet once again this afternoon with party leadership behind closed doors in an attempt to reach a solution. Sources said the leadership is expected to resolve the hiccup over the rule and that the House will take further action on the tax cuts legislation later today.
Yes, that old deadline has come and gone. Dirty Reid has scheduled the repeal of DADT sometime during Christmas week.
The safest place to be is inside the U.S. congressional building the next two weeks. No terrorist would dare strike that place and disrupt their agenda.
How damn long will it take conservative senators and representatives to realize that they are going to have to actually put some thought and effort into representing us? The Dems are outmaneuvering us at every turn. Could elected conservatives get out of the bars and off the golf courses long enough to development a winning strategy? Is that too much to ask after Americans have poured their time and money into your campaigns?
THese are the folks that have been in for the last 2 years and they kept these bills from coming to a vote, why now. Its a freakin Lame Duck session now and the Dems and Bama are getting EVERYTHING their base wants and EVERYTHING the people dont. I dont understand why more people arent pissed here????? Wait. In 2 weeks weve lost our country!!
Oh, right, Dems cutting spending? What is this - April Fool's Day? That'll never happen.
I swear, Nancy Pelosi must have an IQ of under 75. The $25B won't go to anyone except the Dept of Revenue.
WHY don't they just shut it all down!
It would go a LOOOOONG way toward balancing the budget and reducing the deficit if Congress would defund the EPA, the Department of Education, Housing and Urban Development, a few things like that. Cutting back on Congressional and Senatorial staff would help, too, not to mention the IRS
Get rid of a few Cabinet offices probably would work, as well.
Instead, they always talk about cutting military spending. Why? When there are all those other freaking offices that do NOTHING for us?
Huh??? 2 inches of snow in the Northeast is not even worthy of mention, usually referred to as "flurries". Up to 5 inches most of us can drive through without being plowed (including most 80 year old women). Five to eight inches is a slight inconvenience but certainly no reason to miss work. Eight inches to a foot the road crews like you to stay off the roads until cleared - maybe a 2 hour delay. Eithteen inches to two feet can be a one day inconvenience but no more. Two to four feet we consider a real Noreaster that might slow things down for a day and a half.
So the radical left in the House is actually preventing RINO and limp-wristed republicans from bending over, robbing tax payers and giving away the farm! Now THAT’s some pretty ironic irony!
DeMint and Coburn have proven themselves to be completely useless.
I predicted a month ago that the incompetence of Pelosi/Reid would make the Lame Duck a Cluster F%$& and the tax cuts would expire.
delays are great new!
It is important that the GOP help the far left wing of the Dems MAKE CHANGES TO THE BILL. Any changes forces the Senate to reconsider it, eating time.
Even if the changes are leftward, the House GOP should support them. The Senate GOP has sworn to filibuster ANY CHANGES TO THE DEAL, and further, to FILIBUSTER ANYTHING ELSE UNTIL THIS TAX CUT EXTENSION GOES THROUGH.
Optimal strategy, move the legislation leftward so it goes back to the Senate and eats the clock.
“Its a freakin Lame Duck session now and the Dems and Bama are getting EVERYTHING their base wants and EVERYTHING the people dont. I dont understand why more people arent pissed here????? Wait. In 2 weeks weve lost our country!!”
-Most Republicans (and even many Conservatives) don’t react until almost everything is taken away from them. They are so terrified of being called names, like kids on a school playground, that they would rather cower in the corner and let their opponents walk all over them. They like to talk about Reagan, but deep down they are defeatists. It’s sad, but it’s true.
Nancy probably hasn’t offered the leftists enough pork to buy their votes yet.
She’ll just put on her Santa hat and start showing them generosity-—with our money, of course.
Seems it is all about the money. Once people start losing their $, they will mind.
As for now, most still have cell-phone service and a big-screen TV, so there is no need to get off the couch yet.
I don't think it has always been this way -- there's no reason why you can't come to bipartisan agreement on the RULES you use to consider a bill, except when you are a dictator who won't let anything happen that isn't completely scripted.
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