The Republican-led House called on the Democratic-controlled Senate to return to Capitol Hill to approve a one-year extension of the payroll tax cut.
On a party-line vote of 229-193, the House on Tuesday rejected a Senate amendment that authorized only two-month extensions of the tax cut and unemployment benefits.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid adjourned his chamber Saturday, with no plans to reconvene. If an agreement is not reached by Jan. 1, the tax cut will expire.
Reid's move angered House Republicans, who noted that the Senate, which had failed to produce a bill of its own, simply amended the House measure and went home.
Democrats responded that their amendment had bipartisan support, passing 89-10, and accused "radical tea party" House Republicans of holding up the tax cut. Both Florida senators, Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican Marco Rubio, voted for the two-month version.
House Republicans on Tuesday blasted Reid's change-it-and-go-home strategy.
"That's not compromise. That's capitulation. And we're not willing to do that," said Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho.
Other Republicans noted that the Senate's passive-aggressive behavior was consistent for a body that has failed to pass a budget in nearly 1,000 days.
Incensed conservatives called the two-month extension a political ploy to keep the tax-cut issue burning in the 2012 election year.
Rep. Chaka Fattah, D-Pa., tipped the Democrats' hand Tuesday when he called on his fellow members to accept the Senate plan and "help this president who is lifting this economy."
Ironically, the White House supported a one-year extension of the payroll tax cut when Republicans were lukewarm to the idea. Pointing out that the payroll tax is the chief funding source for Social Security, GOP leaders preferred reductions in overall tax rates instead.
A year-long payroll tax cut for a worker earning $50,000 amounts to about $1,000. Some 160 million workers would be affected. Failure to extend jobless benefits past February would end aid to nearly 2.5 million jobless workers.
As the clock wound down toward the Christmas holiday, the House passed one-year extensions with the expectation that senators would go along -- or at least stick around to hash out the differences. They did neither.
Characterizing the Senate's amendment as a "bipartisan compromise," President Barack Obama on Tuesday called it "the only viable way to prevent a tax hike on Jan. 1."
Rep. Sandy Adams, R-Orlando, threw that assertion back at the White House.
"President Obama said it would be inexcusable for Congress not to extend the payroll tax cut extension for an entire year, and I agree. Its time for the Senate to end their vacation and return to Washington so that we can work on long-term legislation that would benefit the American people," Adams said.
Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Jacksonville, said a House-Senate Conference Committee could work out the differences before the new year.
I am ready to work as long as it takes. The time to create certainty and jobs is now, not next February, he said.
Rep. Steve Southerland, R-Tallahassee, excoriated the Senate's two-month patch, saying it provided only a "life preserver," not a "lifeboat."
Southerland said Democrats failed to adopt several of the House's economy measures, including a freeze on congressional and federal-employee pay to help fund the continued tax cuts.
Southerland also tweaked Democrats for punting on other reforms.
"Do they want to prevent access to welfare benefits at strip clubs and liquor stores like the House version, or do they want that to go away in the Senate version?" he asked.
Southerland and others called the Senate's two-month extension on Medicare reimbursements unworkable for doctors and patients. The House bill authorized a 24-month extension.
No Democrats and only seven Republicans broke ranks in Tuesday's House vote. All Florida Republicans voted for the House countermeasure except for Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Bradenton, who was absent.
Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, said, Congress has unfinished business, and the American people need us to get our work done before we go home for Christmas. If we cant reach an agreement, the American people will face a tax hike, and that is unacceptable."
Rooney said he prefers the House version, which "makes important reforms to unemployment benefits, creates jobs by opening the Keystone pipeline, and ensures that seniors will continue to have access to the doctors they need.
"Since both sides have the same goal -- extending the payroll tax holiday for a full year -- Im hopeful that we can resolve the differences between the House and Senate bills and reach a long-term solution.
Rep. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, said, Maybe a two-month extension seems reasonable for a Senate which has not passed a budget in over 900 days. However, I don't like the idea of a two-month extension.There are serious budget mattersthat must bereconciled, and just kicking the can down the road two months is insufficient.
Reps. John Mica, R-Orlando, and Allen West, R-Plantation, said they, too, are sticking by the one-year time line.
Vowing not to vote for anything less than a year, West dismissed the Senate's action as "abject incompetence."
Complaining that Congress has already taken "a quarter-billion dollars from the Social Security trust fund" to reduce payroll taxes, Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., maintained his opposition to any extension on Tuesday.
"A pox on both houses," said Flake, who is leaving the House to run for retiring Sen. Jon Kyl's Senate seat next year.
The following Associated Press analysis compares the House and Senate plans:
HOUSE PLAN
- Price tag: over $180 billion.
- Keeps this years 4.2 percent Social Security payroll tax rate paid by 160 million workers through the end of 2012, instead of rising to 6.2 percent on Jan. 1.
- Extends expiring benefits for the long-term jobless through 2012, but at a maximum of 79 weeks coverage, less in some cases, which is well below this years 99-week limit. Revamps program to require beneficiaries without high school diplomas to seek an equivalent degree; lets states test applicants for illegal drug use.
- Prevents 27 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors for 2012.
- Blocks Obama administration rule curbing pollution from industrial boilers; extends tax break for businesses buying equipment for 2012.
- Requires Obama to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline within 60 days unless he declares the project would not serve the national interest.
- Paid for by extending current pay freeze on civilian federal workers another year through 2013 and requires them to contribute more toward their pensions; raises fee Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge for insuring mortgages; raises Medicare premiums paid by higher-income elderly; cuts some health care overhaul law programs; sells part of broadcast spectrum; prevents illegal immigrant parents from collecting child tax credit refund checks; bars Food Stamps, unemployment benefits for the wealthy.
SENATE PLAN
- Price tag: $33 billion.
- Extends 2-percentage-point cut in Social Security payroll tax through Feb. 29.
- Renews benefits for the long-term unemployed at current levels through Feb. 29; no other changes in program.
- Prevents 27 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors; extends other health care fees through Feb. 29.
- Same provision on Keystone as House.
- Paid for by increasing home loan guarantee fees charged to mortgage lenders by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration by one-tenth of 1 percentage point. The fee is passed on to home buyers and will apply to many new purchases and refinancings starting Jan. 1.
Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
