I was hoping to report that the Senate had taken up the payroll tax cut extension issue today and tossed out the ridiculous plan hatched last week for a two month extension. But, no. Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has indicated that the Senate will not take up the matter until the House passes…
With the clock ticking away on the deadline for the one year payroll tax cut (this one, as it turns out, is a real deadline), Democrats and Republicans in the Senate are fighting to see who can outmaneuver each other. Both offered proposals to extend the cut today – and both proposals failed. The Democrats…
It is, in fact, true that the Republicans are moving ahead with plans to tack on the Keystone XL pipeline as part of a package to extend the payroll tax cuts for next year. It is equally true that President Obama is not happy about this turn of events and has threatened to block any…
Here’s why people really hate Congress: these days, it’s all shenanigans. It’s not “what can I do for you?” so much as “what can I do for my friends?” It’s all backroom deals and sneaky tricks. And now we have another one to add to the mix. Rumor has it – and House Speaker John…
Ooh, talk about efficiency. Here I was totally expecting the Senate to at least pretend to entertain extending the payroll tax cut until tomorrow. Instead, they rushed right into a “no” vote a day early. The charge was led by Senate Republicans despite statements by House Speaker (R-OH) in support of an extension. Boehner said…
Is your mortgage interest deduction at risk? What about your charitable donation deduction? Your real estate tax deduction? Your medical expenses deduction? Under a new conservative plan introduced by Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), one of the members of the “Super Committee”, the amounts that taxpayers could claim as a deduction on a Schedule A would…
Congress learned a lesson this week: it’s hard to talk job creation when you’re directly responsible for thousands of employees being out of work. In July, Congress failed to reach a compromise on the budget for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The immediate result was that airlines were not authorized to collect federal ticket taxes,…
So after all of the drama, it’s over. For now. President Obama has signed into law legislation that will raise the debt ceiling, averting what many in Congress and the media had led us to believe was very nearly the end of the world. The measure, which passed yesterday in the House by a vote…
If you stayed up to watch the marathon Braves/Pirates game, the one that lasted 19 innings, you kind of know how most people feel about waiting for the debt ceiling deal to be made. It’s been long. And no one was quite sure how it was going to end. And if you saw the end…
This week, Republicans in the House voted to repeal the new health care law, setting up a showdown in the Senate and practically guaranteeing a veto from President Obama. Ahhh… This is what the new political landscape is going to look like, I guess. The measure to repeal the health care law was deemed so…