Anyone still wondering why Congress has an approval rating in the teens? ~ anyone still wondering if Boehner is in the top few worst Speakers of the House ever? ~  ~ Sooz

December 19, 2011 8:00 AM
When ‘a done deal' unravels
By Steve Benen

The pieces were in place. Senate leads from both parties agreed to a temporary compromise that looked pretty sensible: Dems would get a two-month extension of the payroll tax break and a clean extension of unemployment benefits, while GOP lawmakers would get an expedited decision on the Keystone XL pipeline. It was quickly approved with overwhelming, bipartisan support, 89 to 10.

What about the House? Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) noted Saturday, “This is probably a done deal in the House; it should be.â€

If Americans find all of this ridiculous, they should have been a little more careful before the 2010 midterms.

American voters have demonstrated that they have "voters' alzheimers disease".

Methinks Mr. Gopqed might want to revisit his claims of "compromise".
When a deal is reached, the Repugnants find a way to move the goal posts. They have been playing this game since that uppity Black Man occupied the White House (White only except for maids and butlers, no doubt). 

Seems to me the House played this game over the FAA shut-down ~ voted, said take-it-or-not, and left town ~ now they're whining because the Senate voted, said take-it-or-not and left town ~ maybe they'll get the message it's past time to stop acting like schoolyard bullies ~ or, more likely, not ~ Sooz 

December 19, 2011 1:45 PM
Reid, for now, won't play Boehner's game
By Steve Benen

After the Senate approved a two-month extension of the payroll tax break, 89 to 10, the upper chamber not only assumed the House would be responsible, it also announced it's done until January. This morning, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said that won't do — the Senate, he said, has to come back, get ready for more compromising, and make House Republicans happy.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) issued a statement this afternoon suggesting Boehner has limited options.

[quote]

“My House colleagues should be clear on what their vote means today. If Republicans vote down the bipartisan compromise negotiated by Republican and Democratic leaders, and passed by 89 senators including 39 Republicans, their intransigence will mean that in ten days, 160 million middle class Americans will see a tax increase, over two million Americans will begin losing their unemployment benefits, and millions of senior citizens on Medicare could find it harder to receive treatment from physicians.

“Senator McConnell and I negotiated a compromise at Speaker Boehner's request. I will not re-open negotiations until the House follows through and passes this agreement that was negotiated by Republican leaders, and supported by 90 percent of the Senate.

“This is a question of whether the House of Representatives will be able to fulfill the basic legislative function of passing an overwhelmingly bipartisan agreement, in order to protect the economic security of millions of middle-class Americans. Democratic and Republican leaders negotiated a compromise and Speaker Boehner should not walk away from it, putting middle-class families at risk of a thousand-dollar tax hike just because a few angry Tea Partiers raised their voices to the Speaker.â€

including 39 Republicans, their intransigence will mean that in ten days, 160 million middle class Americans will see a tax increase, over two million Americans will begin losing their unemployment benefits, and millions of senior citizens on Medicare could find it harder to receive treatment from physicians.


Nah, by then the clowns will compromise on a permanent tax cut for the top 1% earners, ya know, the job creators as they so nicely say, in exchange for a two months extension of goodies for the rest.
Of course everything will go through with bi-partisan support, and if just one dem votes with the clowns.

This is from last night ~ seems the House GOP/TP is getting caught up in its own net ~ this behavior is nothing more than a temper-tantrum ~ Sooz

BREAKING: House Republicans Again Delay Payroll Tax Cut Vote, May Resort To Procedural Gimmicks

By Alex Seitz-Wald on Dec 19, 2011 at 9:30 pm

Must be embarrassing to be a Republican this morning.

If not, it certainly should be, oskar ~ this tidbit is from today's ThinkProgress' Daily "ThinkFast" ~ 2011 entry: [quote]

Today, House Republicans are expected to reject a bipartisan Senate bill to extend the federal payroll tax holiday for two months. If they vote down the bill, House Republicans risk allowing a tax holiday to expire for 160 million American workers. But at a two-hour closed-door meeting last night, members congratulated themselves for killing the measure and “compared themselves to the underdog, principled Scots in the movie ‘Braveheart.'â€

They might want to remember what happened to "Braveheart" in the end.

This straight-forward explanation puts the target directly where it belongs: on the House GOP/TPers in indelible ink ~ if they focused only a very small percentage of the time they spend devising games on working on behalf of the people who elected them, crap like this wouldn't keep repeating ~  ~ Sooz

December 20, 2011 8:00 AM
Congress' conservative, convoluted chaos
By Steve Benen

Passing a popular, middle-class tax cut really shouldn't be this difficult.

Conditions looked pretty good on Saturday. The Senate easily passed a bipartisan compromise for a two-month extension of the payroll tax break, 89 to 10. The White House liked it; House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) liked it; and there was ample room for optimism.

Then the radicalized House Republican caucus decided to throw a tantrum. As of Sunday night, the New York Times noted that the deal that would send everyone home for the holidays had “given way to chaos.â€

[i]In other words, the new House Republican scheme is intended to raise middle-class taxes without making it look like House Republicans are raising middle-class taxes. In two weeks, Americans will discover that their paychecks have shrunk, and because political journalism is largely broken, they'll be told it's the result of “both sidesâ€

Buckle up ~ here we go ~ the only possible 'upside' I see is that I believe we have just witnessed a fairly deep 'mass personal suicide' by the House GOP/TPers ~ Sooz

In Gamed Vote, GOP ‘Rejects' Senate Payroll Tax Cut Compromise

They'll blame Obama.

I'm not sure how these House/Senate conferences work but it seems to me Reid has to make the effort at reconciliation.  Depending upon the numbers involved he should put some of the pissed off Senate Republicans on the Senate's committee.  That way the Pubs couldn't claim it was just them against the Dems.

For me, the most telling comment below is the one I emphasized/bolded ~ Sooz

December 21, 2011 8:00 AM
The Republicans' ‘payroll tax fiasco'
By Steve Benen

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) told CNN yesterday that the fight over extending the payroll tax cut is “harming the Republican Party,â€

Hmmmmm...
Make recess appointments then call 'em back. [img]/domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/wink.gif[/img]
Unless the Dems give in on that one already.

Don't need to help those effers dig their own graves.

This was nothing more than yet another temper tantrum by the House GOP/TP ~ the Dems did an excellent job on this ~ they originally tried for a one-year extension, but were told that was a non-starter ~ so to lay the blame on Obama for preferring "short-term solutions" is just more BS ~ I'm guessing the real turning point was when McConnell tossed Boehner into the fire this morning ~ and when the GOP/TP again turns obstructionist during the renegotiation, it will be a couple of months closer to the election ~ a good scenario for the Dems ~ Sooz

BREAKING: House Republicans Cave, Agree To Two-Month Payroll Tax Cut Extension

After conceding for weeks, the Dems finally said this far and no further — and actually meant it. You read that right.

Maybe.

Sounds like the deal might be ravelling again.  Boehner's retalking the issue with his crew.  Maybe they found out how Braveheart ended in real life.

I finally got the Braveheart connection...Boehner talked until he was blue in the face.

It kinda clashed with the orange of his skin.