Obama, GOP Using Christmas to Spar, Not Reconcile
Think again if you thought Christmas, and the coming of the Prince of Peace, would be reason to put partisan politics on hold in Washington. The exact opposite appears to be true.
President Obama began a string of Christmas-themed attacks, calling Senate and House Republicans “Grinches” last weekend for holding up tax cuts for the middle class.
House Republicans retaliated on the Internet with a YouTube video featuring not one but four Santas highlighting their efforts to pass bipartisan measures and attacking Democrats’ inability to pass legislation. The video ends with Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Santa's naughty list.
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How it started: During his speech to a Pennsylvania crowd Saturday (his 17th visit to that swing state this year), Obama adopted some seasonal language to chide Congress about the looming deadline for his proposed payroll tax cut.
Purporting to be in the Christmas spirit, He offered the Senate and House Republicans a second chance with the American public during the holiday season. He urged, “Don’t be a Grinch.”
“Don’t vote to raise taxes on working Americans during the holidays,” Obama said. He also threatened Congress with the possibility of working through Christmas if does not pass the payroll tax cut.
GOP House Speaker John Boehner said Monday the House Republicans will do its job passing the payroll tax cut and called on Senate Democrats to do theirs.
Senate Democrats, Republicans argue, are the real opposition to the president’s Jobs Act. Two Senate Democrats help rejected Obama’s American Jobs Act. House Republicans have attempted to pass the bill in pieces starting with free trade agreements with Panama, Columbia and South Korea. The trade agreements were successfully passed.
Since then, Republicans assert they has passed 27 “bipartisan jobs bills” which are all stalled in the Senate, according to the Santa video.
Both the House and Senate have yet to pass the president’s proposal on payroll tax cuts.
The previous payroll tax cut expires Dec. 31. If the tax cuts expire, payroll taxes will return to 6.2 percent on the first $110,100 in wages next year.
