Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Harry Says No

... to the latest Republican attempt to take the American people hostage.

But if Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is pinning his hopes for an 11th hour payroll tax cut deal on a conference committee, he is basically alone. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will not appoint conferees, his office stressed again to The Huffington Post on Tuesday morning.

"[There will be] no negotiations until Boehner follows through and passes the compromise that Senators Reid and McConnell negotiated at his request, and which received 90 percent support in the Senate," said a Senate Democratic leadership aide. "It's shameful that he won't even give it an up or down vote. Hopefully fellow Republicans can prevail upon their wayward colleagues in the House."

Asked specifically if that means Reid wouldn't appoint conferees, the aide said Reid would not.

The House shot down the Senate bill this morning, but from what I read they did it in a way that it could be taken back up again. If not, they get the blame for raising taxes on the middle class and cutting people off of unemployment.

Meanwhile, President Obama is enjoying a sudden rise in the polls on who is better equipped to deal with the problems of the middle class and taxes...

More: President says "no" as well.

Now, let’s be clear: Right now, the bipartisan compromise that was reached on Saturday is the only viable way to prevent a tax hike on January 1st. It’s the only one.

That's it. All on the House now.