Blame Harry, Not The House Republicans, For The Lack Of A Deal

(Thomas Mitchell/4th St8) – Even The Wall Street Journal admits the Republicans will take it in the shorts for failing to pass a continuation of the temporary Social Security tax holiday, doc fix and unemployment benefits extension.

Taking full political advantage of the situation, the White House taxpayer-funded website has a digital clock atop it counting down the seconds until the taxes go up.

And it is all the fault of House Republicans who refuse to go along and get along with Harry Reid and the Senate.

People have already forgotten the House first passed a bill that would extend the payroll tax haircut of 2 points for a full year that would offset the $120 million cost by freezing bloated federal worker salaries for one year. That was too much for Harry and the Senate to stomach. They passed a two-month extension to be paid for by higher fees on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages — to be paid for by homebuyers for the next 30 years. Harry tossed this over the House transom and sent the Senate home, telling the House to take it or leave. The House left it.

Now, Harry refuses to call the Senate back to compromise and tells the House to compromise or else the whole deal expires on Jan. 1.

That is the fault of the House? They did their job. Harry refuses to do his.

The Las Vegas Sun, writing from Harry’s hip pocket, gleefully editorialized that Republicans are to blame just like they were in 1995-96 when Bill Clinton shutdown the government. When Democrats refuse to budge, it is the Republicans fault. “Unfortunately, the only issues we see Republicans advancing are their own political goals, which they’ve put ahead of the needs of most Americans,” the Sun editorial concludes.

The Review-Journal includes a story counting down the number of Nevadans who will lose their jobless benefits each week without the extension. Didn’t Harry issue a press release with similar figures earlier?

The Associated Press states that if “legislation isn’t passed by New Year’s Day, payroll taxes will go up by almost $20 a week for a worker making a $50,000 salary. Almost 2 million people could lose unemployment benefits as well, and doctors would bear big cuts in Medicare payments.”

Mike Brownfield at the Heritage Foundation explained it thusly:

“In a rare appearance in the White House press room yesterday, President Barack Obama reiterated his message, blaming Washington’s inaction on ‘a faction of Republicans in the House’ and their ‘refusal to cooperate’ with the Senate — as if it’s the job of Members of Congress to go along and get along for the sake of advancing the President’s agenda, regardless of whether it’s the right move for America. As a reminder, this is the same President who has not met with House Republican leadership in five months and is now praising the grand accomplishment of a Senate that has failed to pass a budget for nearly 1,000 days under Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) direction. …

“Though President Obama would like us to believe the onus is on the House, it’s the Senate that has dropped the ball. And for the sake of the American people, they should come back to Washington and get to work on reaching an agreement.”

Is anyone going to blame Harry?

Take today’s poll: Should Senator Harry Reid call the Senate back in Session to negotiate an extension of the 2% Federal Tax Holiday?