Obama issues veto threat of payroll tax bill, but no mention of pipeline
CBS/AP
The White House on Tuesday issued a formal veto threat of the House bill to extend the payroll tax cut, objecting to the way House Republicans chose to pay for the $180 billion legislation.
President Obama has previously threatened to veto the House version of the bill because it would streamline the decision-making process on the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas. However, in its veto threat today, the White House made no mention of the pipeline.
Instead, the White House said, the House bill "breaks the bipartisan agreement on spending cuts that was reached just a few months ago and would inevitably lead to pressure to cut investments in areas like education and clean energy. Furthermore, [the legislation] seeks to put the burden of paying for the bill on working families, while giving a free pass to the wealthiest and to big corporations by protecting their loopholes and subsidies."
The House is voting today on the legislation, which would extend the payroll tax cut for 160 million workers for another year. It would also extend long-term unemployment benefits but with reforms that Democrats have protested. Additionally, it would prevent a cut in Medicare payments to doctors.
Democrats have proposed paying for the tax cut extension by raising taxes on Americans earning more than $1 million a year.
The House Republican bill, by contrast, would extend the current federal worker pay freeze one more year, require federal workers to contribute more to their pensions, and charge higher insurance rates for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages. It would also prevent millionaires from collecting unemployment benefits or food stamps and increase Medicare Part B and D premiums for high income earners.
In order to prevent illegal immigrants from getting the child tax credit, the bill would require individuals to provide a Social Security number for the credit. To pay for Medicare payments for doctors, the bill eliminates some of the health care subsidies enacted in Mr. Obama's health care overhaul.
Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, pointed out that the Washington Post gave the White House "three Pinocchios" for charging the House bill would cut spending for things like education.
"In terms of governing, this amounts to legislative malpractice," Steel said in a statement.
He added that after the House passes the bill, it will be up to the Democratic-led Senate to act. "The Senate can take up our bill and amend it, or they can pass their own bill," Steel said. "But they can't continue to shirk their responsibility to govern. America can't wait."
White House spokesperson Jay Carney said today that the White House stands by its assertion that if lawmakers are to meet the reduced spending levels they agreed to earlier this year, using a federal pay freeze to pay for the extension of the payroll tax cut would lead to cuts in other things like education.
"There is nowhere else to go but programs like education, programs like energy, those kinds of programs that serve the very middle-class and working Americans you're supposed to be helping with the payroll tax cut," he said.
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Koch brothers are not trying to grease the pockets of politicians to help thier wallets? Buffet is giving 99% of his wealth away as he says he says a few hundred milliion is all he needs. Koch brothers giving away how much?
Huntsman, Paul and maybe Romney (in that order) are the only sane republicans, but the base cannot stomach them. LOL
Want to bet 10,000 dollars President Obama is reelected.
Shouldbe raising revenue elsewhere as well, but the "holiday" is not sustainable.
This guy cleaned up his posts and only some leftwing CBS shill who works at this comment site could do that.
He was either posting on his break or on CBS's time.
Watch this post disappear as well.
Here are some of the highlights.
The US State Department study said that the Keystone project provide at most 6,000 temporary construction jobs.
Cornell University's Global Labor Institute said the Keystone Project would produce between 2,500 to 4,650 jobs. Most jobs temporary and non-local. Local hires below 15 %, since much of the work requires special skills which local workers don't have. Even
TransCanada itself said that the Keystone Project would create only a few hundred permanent jobs.
In addition, the Cornell University Study actually considers the Pipeline project a "job killer", since it prevents investments we need in green tech. It kills jobs for carpenters weatherizing homes in Ohio, steelworkers building wind turbans, or auto makes manufacturing parts for electric cars. Green tech will provide 2.7 million future jobs for Americans in green tech.
Beyond Redford's article, I might point out that Obama's Jobs Now Proposal will actually generate a lot more jobs than the Keystone project. In addition, without the appropriate infrastructure, the Keystone Project is doomed for failure. If you consult Californians for Clean Energy and Jobs, you will see that the fledgling solar energy industry is actually creating more jobs than the Keystone Project.
Also retrofitting boilers and coal-fired power plants with filters that will eliminate mercury emissions will also generate more jobs than the Key stone Project.
Finally the GOP has not figured in the costs of global warming, simply because they have declared war on science. The Keystone Project increases the number of toxic chemicals and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, hastening the effects of global warming. Nothing will kill more jobs faster than global warming.
In short, the GOP is lying to the public. If they lie this much now, just think of the way they will lie if they get elected or re-elected in 2012.
Who said this? No, not some ENIVRO.
The speaker was Fred Upton, Republican from Michigan, describing a 20,000 oil spill on the Kalamzoo River. Of course, as a typical Republican, Upton did not tell the whole truth. The spill came from a TransCanada pipeline from the Keystone project. It was only a few years old.
This incident illustrates the basic problem with the Keystone project. Di-Bit is a mixture of highly toxic and corrosive chemicals. These chemicals rapidly gnaw holes in pipelines. Keeping a Keystone Pipeline in good repair will quickly eat into the profits, making the Keystone Pipeline unprofitable - without extensive government subsidies. Extreme weather patterns, cased by Global climate will create additional stresses to the Pipeline.
While Congress just passed the Pipeline Safety Regulatory Act, we have no guarantee that these safety provisions will be enforced. Right now, the Republicans, who are pushing the Keystone Project are busy trying to gut the EPA. They want to block the EPA from enforcing laws that are already on the book. A little bribery from the right people, and the GOP will got the Pipeline safety bill as well.
So again. Re-read Fred Upton's statement on the effects of one 20,000 gallon spill from the Keystone Pipeline, and remember this spill will repeat itself over and over again.
Yawn, is it over yet?
No thanks, we say away from skewed left wing propaganda.