23 December, 2011

CNN Breaking News

Armed with the top Senate Republican’s recommendation that the Republican-controlled House give in on the standoff over a payroll tax cut extension, President Obama on Thursday again called for the House to pass the two-month extension passed in the Senate before the cuts expire December 31.

"Americans can't afford $1,000 because of some stupid standoff in Washington," Obama said while flanked by men and women who he said had responded to the White House's "What does $40 mean to you" Twitter and Facebook campaign.

The tax cut extension, which means about $1,000 to the average taxpayer, affects about 160 million Americans.

Earlier Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, urged House Republicans to support a short-term extension of the tax holiday -- similar to a two-month bipartisan measure passed overwhelmingly by the Senate and now demanded by both Obama and congressional Democrats -- while encouraging the Senate to negotiate a longer extension with the House.

"House Republicans sensibly want greater certainty about the duration of these provisions, while Senate Democrats want more time to negotiate the terms," McConnell said in a written statement. "These goals are not mutually exclusive. We can and should do both."

But House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, pushed back, reiterating in a statement his call for negotiators to craft an immediate one-year tax cut extension -- something now considered unlikely by most congressional observers.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, later released a statement promising that he will be "happy to restart the negotiating process to forge a year-long extension" as soon as the House passes the Senate's two-month compromise deal.

The Senate bill also extends emergency federal unemployment benefits and the so-called "doc fix," a delay in significant scheduled pay cuts to Medicare physicians. All three measures are scheduled to expire December 31.

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