Posted on 12/01/2010 5:44:59 PM PST by onyx
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said Wednesday that President Obama must reach a deal on extending the Bush tax cuts by Monday if a nuclear arms treaty has a chance of passing the Senate by the end of the year.
“The deal on taxes has to be done very early next week, like Monday,” Kyl said.
Kyl said if negotiators don’t reach a deal on the Bush taxes within a week “then you’re not going to have time to do START,” making a reference to the pending Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia. The Senate must ratify it with a two-thirds vote of the chamber.
The emerging conventional wisdom has been that Senate Republicans would agree to ratify START if Obama and Democratic leaders agreed to a temporary extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts.
This legislative horse trade might not be possible because of the highly politicized debate surrounding the tax rates and the little time left in the lame-duck session.
“If the taxes all can’t be resolved and voted on and completed and spending for the government for the next 10 months completed by, like, next Monday, I don’t know how there’s enough time to complete START," Kyl said.
The continuing resolution to fund the government expires Friday, Dec. 3. Congress would have to pass a budget or another continuing resolution in order to keep the government running.
And Senate Republicans sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), saying they will block controversial legislation during the lame-duck Congress until a deal on tax cuts is worked out. Every GOP senator signed the letter.
Kyl, the Senate Republican whip, has emerged as the lead GOP negotiator with the Obama administration over the treaty’s ratification.
He is also representing the Senate Republican conference in high-level talks with the administration about extending the Bush-era tax cuts, which are due to expire at the end of December.
Kyl met for nearly an hour and forty-five minutes Wednesday morning with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Office of Management and Budget director Jacob Lew. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Rep. Dave Camp (Mich.), the ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, also attended the meeting.
The negotiators emerged from meeting in the offices of the Senate Finance Committee at about noon and declined to reveal any details of the talks.
“We had a very civil, constructive discussion, very much in the spirit of the meeting at the White House yesterday,” Geithner told reporters. “No surprises. We went through everything on the table and we agreed we’re going to come back this afternoon late in the day and continue the conversations.”
Geithner declined to say what items are “on the table for discussion.”
“We also agreed that it’s very important that we’re not going to characterize the discussions in the room,” Geithner said.
The negotiators plan to return to the talks at 5:30 Wednesday afternoon.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said earlier Wednesday the nuclear treaty would get ratified before the end of the year.
“The START Treaty will be done by Christmas," Gibbs said on CBS's "Early Show."
I’m glad you’re confident. I’m NOT. Reid and Obama have their agenda and we have too many squishy RINOS and sore losers with the DREAM Act and this monstrosity looming.
If Kyl is being clever, he needs to be clever by keeping his mouth shut. NO deals and no compromises and why not run out the clock?
If they run out the clock, tax cuts won't be extended. Then the Repubs will be accused of tryng to increase the deficit by an enormous amount on Jan. 1 when they pass that bill. And Obama may very well veto it saying they shouldn't have passed such a huge bill that "increases the deficit" and "gives a tax cut to the rich". The result will be that the middle class doesn't get a tax cut, unemployment stays high, and Obama gets to tag the Repubs as big spenders.
Force Obama to concentrate FIRST on tax cuts before Dec. 31. He's trying to avoid the issue now because he wants to own the headlines in the New Year. This is a game of chess and Kyl is playing it right.
Damn it! I can't stand these guys...
I’m confused about what is going on, his morning Cornyn said no deals on START in lame duck and the tax deal is #1 priority,
IIRC, the IRS has likely already sent out the new tax structure to employers for use effective January 1, 2011. The printing of the new tax deductiion materials has already been incurred.
As it stands right now, workers will likely get nicked on paychecks received after January 1. I wish I could recall the last possible date the legslation needs to be passed to circumvent two separate filings by taxpayers. It might be in the New Year.
The middle class is a straw man. The Bush tax cuts for the so-called middle class are a given.
That is what I’m thinking is going on, too. Politics is a game of chess and this is a high-stakes game right now.
Idiocy. The letter that all 42 signed should speak for itself.
Senators should all shut-up.
I’m with you Carolyn.
Senators needs to shut-up, but this morning Rush talked about this very same rumor and he said “it better be BS,” but lo and behold, here it is in print. Go figure.
No matter what they do now, this is going to be a mess until at least March or April, the IRS computers are going to have to be re-programmed and then done again. Right now that damn Gabby Giffords (who barely won again in Tucson district) is on bitching about Tax Cuts for the Rich...... she is dumber than dumb calls herself a Blue Dog (barf) and she is putting forth this phoney baloney act on the tax bill right now on Greta...... she is just plain dumb, Kyl is dumb like a Fox, I have to think he has this planned out.
“WHY do the Repubs feel like they HAVE TO DO ANYTHING in this lame duck session. Their job right now is to obstruct any and all bills proposed by the Dems.”
because we don’t want a major tax increase during a recession?
I’m listening to her...(gag). We can share a TV! LOL.
McCain “goes on the record” next.
I was referring to the Repubs even hinting at working with the Dems on Dem initiatives such as START, DREAM ACT, etc... not the tax issue. Sorry for the confusion.
Reading comprehension 101 for you. MNGal specified “proposed by the democrats.”
I don’t even understand how she can be a congressman from AZ, she and her astronaut husband live in Texas as far as I know. Sort of like Mary Bono Mack.... and Connie Mack.
Sheeesh. She talks and sounds like a 12 year old.
It is absurd to link start with tax cuts for another reason. It cheapens their entire approach to foreign policy issues.
Every tax cut extension must be proposed by the Democrats during this lame duck session since they still have the majority in both houses.
I know, the lights are on but nothing is home upstairs, according to the Freepers in her district the election outcome was iffy — remember there was reports that they didn’t check ID (which is AZ LAW) to check in this border city whether the voter was eligible and there was a lot of questionable absentee ballots that appeared out of nowhere for both her and Grijilva. Hopefully we’ll get them out in 2012 it was VERY close this time — notice how all of a sudden she keeps saying she is a “Blue Dog” she never talked like that before.
You also didn’t read the first part:
WHY do the Repubs feel like they HAVE TO DO ANYTHING in this lame duck session.
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