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."
The dims walked into a trap.
Spending bills have to originate in the House.
Food bill has spending.
Senate passed it and threw it back to the House.
House takes extreme umbrage and tables it.
No food bill for you.
And Obama is playing basketball.
Yeah. And while we're at it, can we call it like it really is? My income tax goes up substantially next year. That would be a tax increase.
Therefore it's a Democrat Tax Hike! The Democrat Party has planned on this tax hike for years now! It's Obama's Tax Hike, to put it bluntly. Democrats made the requirement for the deal, Democrats controlled the administration, Democrats could had the votes to put a stop to it, ergo the Democrat Party and it's leader, President Obama, are responsible for this outrage.
So these fools, rather than debating the merits of the START treaty, would automatically help to ratify it for some measly temporary tax cut extensions. (Oh, I'm sure there would be some sort of debate for show, but the fix would be in.)
UNBELIEVABLE!!!
Even if this was a good, solid treaty along the lines of the ones negotiated by Reagan, if a bloc of Senators agrees to just vote for ratification in exchange for something, even something good like tax cut extensions, it is still a sellout.
Yes, you’re absolutely right!
I know that, so what’s he doing now?
Democrat tax hike! Precisely!
UNBELIEVABLE!!!
INDEED!
What kind of idiocy is this? Tolerance Sucks Rocks said it best at post #89!
This is appalling. These two issues have no relationship to each other in any way, passage of one does not automatically mean the other should be passed!
With each passing day, I more clearly see that our government has been hijacked and perverted. Governance now bears no resemblance to the principles laid forth in The Constitution.
Simply appalling.
“I’m glad you’re confident. I’m NOT.”
Let’s see. The Democrats incompetently screwed up a ‘win’ on the Food Bill. 0 pts.
The Democrats dont have the votes for the DREAM Act in the Senate. 0 pts.
Collins has said no to DADT until tax bill is done. 0 pts.
The Tax vote was a clear repudiation of Obama’s proposals and we will have tax cuts extended for all for a few years. 0 pts.
Oh, and the Republicans under McConnell have checkmated the Democrats - NOTHING except tax cuts and spending bill. Do that first... once they are done with those 2 they likely will not have time or political capital to do anything else.
” Reid and Obama have their agenda and we have too many squishy RINOS and sore losers with the DREAM Act and this monstrosity looming.”
We do, but I’ve gone from very worried to not-very-worried about the Lame Duck. The clock is ticking and the Dems have produced nothing so far.
Reminder bttt
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