–House Republican Leaders Gear Up For Vote To Extend All Bush Tax Cuts
–House GOP: Will Come Back In August If Senate Reverses Tax Stance

By John Shaw

WASHINGTON (MNI) – With the House set to vote Thursday on a
one-year extension of the Bush era tax cuts and on legislation that
would create an expedited process for considering tax reform next year,
Republican leaders have intensified their efforts to shape the political
landscape.

In a letter Wednesday to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House
Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said they are
willing to call the House back into session in August — if Senate
Democratic leaders are willing to reverse their long-held stances on tax
cuts and the looming across-the-board spending cuts.

Congress is scheduled to begin its August recess on Friday and
return on Sept. 10.

The House is expected to pass the GOP tax bills Thursday on party
line votes. Last week, the Senate narrowly approved a Democratic plan to
extend Bush era tax cuts for those families making $250,000 or less.

Both the tax cut bill the House is expected to pass this week and
the measure the Senate approved last week are largely partisan efforts
to frame the tax cut debate after the November elections.

In their letter, Boehner and Cantor noted that the House has
already passed legislation that would replace the coming $110 billion in
across-the-board spending cuts in the 2013 fiscal year with a package of
more than $300 billion in other domestic discretionary and entitlement
cuts.

Boehner and Cantor said that if the Senate passes a sequestration
replacement package, the House would return in August to consider it or
negotiate a “consensus package.”

The House GOP leader said the across-the-board spending cuts should
not be repealed, but rather replaced by a package of “common-sense cuts
and reforms.”

Reid has said repeatedly that Democrats are open to revising the
sequestration process if the GOP will allow for new revenues to be part
of the replacement package.

“We could avoid these defense cuts tomorrow” if Republicans would
accept more revenues, Reid said Tuesday.

On the tax cut question, Reid has urged the House to approve the
Senate-passed tax cut bill, saying this is the only version that
President Obama will sign.

** MNI Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 **

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