Make or Break Time for the Middle Class says Obama

[Teatownclown]

I think the word the media is using to describe what the Teabagger/GOP hoods have done is "CAVE."

I guess now they can blast Obummer for taking off and going to Hawaii... I hope he makes it his western White House second term. The time change might make things quieter. And it's 2012 so it might just be safe harbor.

[Gaspar]

So did they approve the 12 month extension that President Obama asked for, or the 2 month extension that the Senate Democrats wanted?

[Gaspar]

The good new is that the pipeline is a GO!

[Townsend]

The good new is that the pipeline is a GO!

Didn't see that yet.  I'm hearing mostly bad for the pipeline.  Why is it a good thing?

[guido911]

So did they approve the 12 month extension that President Obama asked for, or the 2 month extension that the Senate Democrats wanted?

2 month.

[Townsend]

So did they approve the 12 month extension that President Obama asked for, or the 2 month extension that the Senate Democrats wanted?

The 12 month was wanted by the house speaker.  The 2 month was agreed on by the Senate republicans and democrats.

Where'd you get your info?

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PAYROLL_TAX?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-12-22-16-41-52

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In an abrupt about-face, House Republican leaders Thursday agreed to a two-month extension of a Social Security payroll tax cut and federal unemployment benefits, GOP aides said.

The move reflects a bowing to demands by the Senate and President Barack Obama and appears to all but assure 160 million workers aren't hit by a 2 percentage point increase in the payroll tax on Jan. 1.

It also would renew jobless benefits for almost 2 million people without jobs for more than six months and spare doctors from a big cut in Medicare payments. House Republicans were to hold a telephone conference call on the developments later Thursday.

House Republicans balked at the bipartisan Senate bill earlier this week, and their leaders, as recently as Thursday morning, had insisted that the Senate begin talks on a one-year measure passed by the House last week. The Senate passed a 2-month extension on Saturday.

The decision came swiftly after the top Republican in the Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, urged the House to accept a short-term measure.

[guido911]

The good new is that the pipeline is a GO!

Can you source that?

[Gaspar]

Can you source that?

They agreed to sign the bill that the Senate offered.  That bill still has the Keystone in it, and the Senate has gone home for the Holidays.
This is the signed and engrossed bill http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr3630eas/pdf/BILLS-112hr3630eas.pdf

[Gaspar]

Of course President Obama can choose to scrap the whole thing.
We'll see what he's made of now.

I encourage my liberal friends to call and email the White House, and let the President know how they feel.

Approval of the Keystone pipeline threatens unemployment, high energy costs and everything they have worked so hard for!

[Townsend]

Of course President Obama can choose to scrap the whole thing.
We'll see what he's made of now.

I encourage my liberal friends to call and email the White House, and let the President know how they feel.

Approval of the Keystone pipeline threatens unemployment, high energy costs and everything they have worked so hard for!

So you're back to choosing words in an article and just placing them so it fits what you want to believe or what?

[Gaspar]

No chance he's going to scrap Keystone now, he just made a statement:

Obama: "I congratulate members of Congress for ending the partisan stalemate by reaching an agreement"

He's got some golfin to do!

Merry Christmas Mr. President.

[Hoss]

No chance he's going to scrap Keystone now, he just made a statement:

Obama: "I congratulate members of Congress for ending the partisan stalemate by reaching an agreement"

He's got some golfin to do!

Merry Christmas Mr. President.

[Townsend]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/22/politics/congress-payroll-tax-cut/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Washington (CNN) -- House Speaker John Boehner on Thursday announced an agreement with Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid to extend the payroll tax cut for two months.

The deal amounted to a reversal of the opposition by House Republicans of the two-month extension passed by the Senate.

According to Republican and Democratic sources, previously recalcitrant House GOP leaders agreed to the short-term extension of the tax break to allow time for further negotiations.

Those terms were part of a bipartisan Senate deal that President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats demanded the House accept.

The deal also includes the addition of legislative language to ease the administrative burden on small businesses implementing the plan, Boehner said in a statement.

"We will ask the House and Senate to approve this agreement by unanimous consent before Christmas," Boehner said, indicating the chambers could pass the plan without objection so that members don't have to return to Washington from their holiday recess.

The development came hours after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, called for a short-term extension to end the standoff, increasing pressure on House GOP leaders to end their resistance to such a step.

Boehner, R-Ohio, initially rejected McConnell's call, instead releasing a statement that reiterated his demand for negotiators to craft an immediate one-year tax cut extension -- something that has been considered extremely unlikely by most congressional observers.

With nine days until the payroll tax cut is set to expire, bringing a tax increase averaging $1,000 for American workers, the ongoing impasse pitting the House Republican leadership against the White House, congressional Democrats and fellow Republicans is the kind of political gamesmanship that Americans dislike about Congress, Obama said earlier Thursday.

The two-month Senate compromise was passed last Saturday by an 89-10 vote, with strong Republican support, after Senate negotiators were unable to agree on a one-year extension.

Boehner has instead demanded negotiations on a one-year extension, arguing that anything shorter would simply prolong the issue and causes uncertainty for American taxpayers and businesses.

His stance drew sharp criticism this week, including an editorial in the conservative Wall Street Journal that said House Republicans had lost the political advantage of advocating tax cuts to Obama and the Democrats.

On Thursday, McConnell's proposal and calls by other conservative Republicans for the House to accept a short-term extension showed the tide turning against Boehner and his GOP leaders.

[Gaspar]

This is indeed a great victory for the president. 

[Townsend]

Does Obama have the ability to line item veto this kind of bill?