Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is now proposing that, essentially, both sides give in to the other in the payroll tax fight. Under his plan, the House would pass the Senate’s two month payroll tax extension as long as the Senate agrees to appoint negotiators to work on a full-year compromise before the year is up. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has said he wouldn’t enter into negotiations until the House passed the two-month extension, so it’s not impossible that this could happen. The problem is, if the House extends the payroll tax until the end of February, it’s not clear why Democrats would be motivated to make consessions toward the one-year extension in the next 10 days, knowing they’ll have an additional 60 days to fight for a better deal.
In any event, here is the McConnell statement:
“The House and Senate have both passed bipartisan bills to require the President to quickly make a decision on whether to support thousands of U.S. manufacturing jobs through the Keystone XL pipeline, and to extend unemployment insurance, the temporary payroll tax cut and seniors’ access to medical care. There is no reason why Congress and the President cannot accomplish all of these things before the end of the year. House Republicans sensibly want greater certainty about the duration of these provisions, while Senate Democrats want more time to negotiate the terms. These goals are not mutually exclusive. We can and should do both. Working Americans have suffered enough from the President’s failed economic policies and shouldn’t face the uncertainty of a New Year’s Day tax hike. Leader Reid should appoint conferees on the long-term bill and the House should pass an extension that locks in the thousands of Keystone XL pipeline jobs, prevents any disruption in the payroll tax holiday or other expiring provisions, and allows Congress to work on a solution for the longer extensions.”
