US Sen.Reid Signals He Wld Support House GOP Payroll Tax Plan

–Senate Majority Leader ‘Very Happy’ With House GOP Payroll Plan
–Also Need To Pass UI Extension, Doc Fix
–Senate Minority Leader McConnell: ‘No View’ Yet On House GOP Plan

By John Shaw

WASHINGTON (MNI) – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid signalled
Tuesday that he is willing to support a new House Republican plan to
extend last year’s payroll tax cut for the rest of this year without
requiring budget offsets.

In comments after a Senate Democratic luncheon, Reid said he is
“very happy” with the new proposal by House Republican leaders. And he
is “hopeful and cautiously optimistic” that a way can be found to pass
the payroll tax cut extension in both the House and Senate.

Reid predicted the payroll tax cut extension is “going to pass”
soon, but added that he will continue to push for passage of provisions
renewing unemployment insurance benefits and preventing a deep cut in
Medicare reimbursements for doctors.

He is waiting for the House to pass its bill first. “We have to let
them act first,” Reid said.

Speaking after a Senate Republican meeting, Senate Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell said his first preference would be that a House-Senate
conference committee negotiate a full agreement on the payroll tax cut
package.

But he said he has “diminishing optimism” that the conference
committee will be able to craft a full compromise.

“The conference appears to be going nowhere,” he said, blaming the
unwillingness of Democrats to “cut any spending anywhere” in the federal
budget.

Asked if he could support a House GOP bill to extend the payroll
tax cut bill as a stand-alone measure without any budget offsets,
McConnell said, “I don’t have a view on it right now.”

House Republicans have grown impatient with Democratic
intransigence and are still “looking around at alternatives” to extend
the payroll tax cut, he said.

“I can understand their frustration,” McConnell said.

A House-Senate conference committee has been working for several
weeks to draft a payroll tax cut package.

The talks are focusing on a $160 billion package to extend the
payroll tax cut, extend unemployment insurance benefits and prevent a
deep cut in Medicare reimbursements for doctors.

Congress passed a two-month extensions of these programs which will
expire at the end of February. President Barack Obama and congressional
leaders have said they want to pass a one-year extension of these
programs, but there are scores of policy details to resolve as well as a
budget offset package.

House Republicans recommended paying for the package by extending a
federal employee pay freeze, increasing Medicare premiums for upper
income beneficiaries, and cutting funds from the new health care law.

Senate Democrats have preferred to pay for the package by imposing
a surtax on those with incomes over $1 million.

House Republican leaders said Monday that it might make sense to
pass the payroll tax cut extension as a separate bill and then hold
additional talks on the UI and “doc fix” provisions.

** Market News International Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 **

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