Monday, December 19, 2011

REED SAYS HOUSE WILL “DO ITS JOB” ON PAYROLL TAX EXTENSION; Calls on Senate To Return To Washington and Work through New Year

Congressman Tom Reed said this morning that the House will do its job and work on extending the payroll tax holiday even if it means staying in Washington through the holidays to the New Year.  Reed called the two month extension passed by the Senate on Saturday “a ridiculous way to make policy.”

“Enough is enough,” Reed declared. “No more band aids. Taxpayers need long-term solutions, not short-term political games. How do employers deal with a tax policy that lasts just two months? How do doctors, facing reimbursement cuts for seeing Medicare patients, deal with a policy for two months?  We need to agree to solutions that last a year if not more.”

Reed said one option for coming to an agreement would be a formal conference between the House and Senate before the end of the year. “The Senate has left town for the year,” Reed said. “We’re back in Washington trying to get to a solution. They should be too. If they stay on holiday vacation, it will be an embarrassing failure of leadership on the part of the Senate.”

Another option would be for the House to vote on the various issues at loggerheads, including extension of payroll tax holiday, unemployment benefits, the Medicare reimbursement fix, and Keystone Pipeline project, as stand-alone bills.  “I’d prefer that everyone on the record on each issue,” Reed said. “People deserves to know where their representatives and senators stand.”

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