–House Speaker Schedules 5 P.M Conference Call With House GOP
–Senate McConnell’s Proposal Said To Shape Coming Accord
–Hill To Approve Short-Term Extension, Begin Talks On Longer-Deal

By John Shaw

WASHINGTON (MNI) – Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s
proposal Thursday to resolve the impasse on the payroll tax cut
extension by passing a short-term extension in the coming days and then
beginning formal talks on a longer-term package will form the basis of a
coming agreement, congressional staffers say.

House Speaker John Boehner is holding a 5 p.m. ET conference call
with House Republicans so any announcement on an agreement will follow
that call, a Republican staffer said.

McConnell’s suggested proposal was for Senate Majority Leader Harry
Reid to formally seek a House-Senate conference committee that will be
charged to draft a one year payroll tax cut extension. McConnell said
Reid should also appoint the Democratic members of this panel.

In return for Reid doing this, the House would pass a bill that
would extend the payroll tax cut package for several months.

It is unclear if the agreement will be for the House to pass the
compromise plan that was approved by the Senate Saturday or a slightly
revised bill that would require an additional Senate vote.

“Leader Reid should appoint conferees on the long-term bill and the
House should pass an extension that locks in the thousands of Keystone
XL pipeline jobs, prevents any disruption in the payroll tax holiday or
other expiring provisions and allows Congress to work on a solution for
the longer extensions,” McConnell said in his statement.

McConnell issued his statement Thursday just after House Speaker
John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said at a briefing
that they could negotiate a final payroll tax cut extension package with
President Obama and congressional Democrats very quickly and easily.

At the briefing, Boehner urged Senate leaders and the White House
to “sit down and have a serious negotiation” over the payroll tax cut
extension.

“We need somebody to work with,” the Speaker said, adding “let’s
sit down and resolve the differences.”

Boehner called Obama Thursday and suggested that the White House
send negotiators to Capitol Hill immediately to begin talks on the
payroll tax cut extension.

According to a Boehner statement, Obama rejected this idea.

The House voted Tuesday to reject the Senate’s compromise bill that
would have given a two month extension to last year’s payroll tax cut,
renew unemployment insurance benefits and prevent a sharp cut in doctor
payments under Medicare.

The House also voted Tuesday to reaffirm its support of the
Republican package would extend for one year the current 4.2% payroll
tax rate for employees and renew unemployment insurance benefits for
workers who have been unemployed for more than six months. The plan
would extend for two years the so-called “doc fix” to prevent Medicare
payments to doctors from being cut by more than 27%.

The House GOP plan would also remove barriers to construction of
the Keystone XL project and delay a new pollution standard for
industrial boilers.

Reid has said the Senate has already passed a bipartisan compromise
plan and he would not enter into yet another round of talks with the
GOP.

The Senate approved Saturday on an 89 to 10 vote a payroll tax cut
package that Reid and McConnell negotiated.

Senate leaders were unable to reach a broad agreement that would
have funded the package for a full year, so they agreed to extend
various programs for two months.

The scaled-back package would cost about $40 billion and would be
paid for by higher fees that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge to
mortgage home lenders.

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

[TOPICS: M$U$$$,MFU$$$,MCU$$$]