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| Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) |
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) urging him to recall House members back to congress and pass the Senate Bill that was past with bipartisan support this past Saturday by a vote of 89-10.
The deal worked out in the Senate between Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had the full approval of Speaker Boehner. Reid said in his letter, “As you requested when we met last Wednesday, Senator McConnell and I worked together to find this common ground.
After yesterdays decision by Speaker Boehner to NOT hold an up or down vote on the bipartisan Senate Bill that he had originally agreed to, the House voted to reconcile their demands in a conference with the Senate. Then Speaker Boehner and the House adjourned and they all went home for their Christmas break knowing that in just 11 days (now 10 days), that taxes will be raised on 160 million Americans.
In Senator Reid’s letter to Speaker Boehner, Reid says the democrats will sit down with the republicans to work out a yearlong deal, but because time is short, the House needs to first pass the Senate Bill that extends the payroll tax cuts
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s letter to Speaker Boehner:
Dear Speaker Boehner,
Our respective chambers have been seeking for weeks to negotiate a year-long extension of the payroll tax cut for middle-class families, as well as unemployment benefits and Medicare payments for physicians.
You and I agree that this should be our goal. But as these weeks have made clear, there remain differences between our parties over how to fund and implement these programs that will take longer then a few days to reconcile.
Recognizing this reality, eighty-nine Republican and Democratic senators came together to agree to a short-term extension of these programs. As you requested when we met last Wednesday, Senator McConnell and I worked together to find this common ground. Once the House of Representatives acts on this immediate extension, we will be able to sit down and complete negotiations on a longer extension. But because we have a responsibility to assure middle-class families that their taxes will not go up while we work out our differences, we must pass this immediate extension first.
As the Senate vote made clear, there is no reason for this to be a partisan issue. I am fully confident that we can work out our differences and find common ground on a year-long extension. But in the meantime, families should not have to worry that they will wake up to a tax increase on January 1, 2012.
To provide middle-class families the certainty they deserve, I urge you to reconvene the House to act on the Senate’s bipartisan compromise as soon as possible.
Sincerely, Senator Harry Reid
If nothing is passed by midnight December 31, 2011, taxes will go up on January 1, 2012, and it will be the fault of the House of Representatives which is controlled by the Republican Party. And no matter how Speaker Boehner tries to spin this, it will be his party that 160 million Americans will blame for their taxes being raised.
Cross posted at Examiner.com
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