Rep. David B. McKinley, P.E. (R-WV) voted on Tuesday to protect the Social Security Trust Fund and ask the Senate to rethink its plan to create even more economic uncertainty for Americans by voting in opposition to the Senate modifications to H.R. 3630, legislation that raids $180 billion from the Fund to pay for a temporary 2-month tax reduction. The House passed its version of the bill last week over McKinley’s objections, while the Senate amended the legislation over the weekend to offer a two-month extension of President Obama’s payroll tax cut. Now, the House has put the ball back in the court of Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) by voting to take the two versions of the bill to a joint conference committee. Reid has publicly said he will not appoint Senate negotiators to attend a conference committee; consequently, allowing the bill to die and the payroll tax cut to expire at its end of the year deadline.
“Most Americans understand the idea of compromise,” McKinley said. “I’m not sure why Harry Reid doesn’t get it. It’s Civics 101—this is something we all learned in high school. If you have differing thoughts concerning particular legislation, you remedy the bill in a conference committee and then that compromise is voted on by both chambers of Congress. Today, the House said we will not support an even more temporary tax cut that will undoubtedly create more economic unrest. Secondly, my colleagues and I invited the Senate to join us in finding middle ground between these two bills. Senator Reid is once again doing the bidding of President Obama and sticking to his ‘my way or the highway’ mentality. The House has made every effort to follow necessary procedure to meet the Senate halfway for the good of the American public. It’s unfortunate Harry Reid’s only justification for not wanting to go to conference is ‘because he says so.’
“I have opposed the payroll tax cut from the beginning, and voted against the House version last week. Temporary tax cuts do not encourage employers to hire more workers when they think those resources won’t be available to them in the future. As I have said time and time again, this extension has been in effect for the past year, and where has it gotten us? 13 million Americans remain jobless, our unemployment rate lingers close to Great Depression levels and last month 315,000 people gave up hope and simply stopped looking for work altogether. There is just no evidence that proves a one-year extension of this tax cut will solve our economic woes – and a two-month extension certainly won’t. The quick-fix, Keynesian economic theories supported so enthusiastically by President Obama are not working. If he wanted to create real change as he said so often during his candidacy, let’s come to the table to enact comprehensive, long-term tax reform and encourage real economic growth. We cannot slap a mere band aid on a problem that requires long-term solutions.”
Numerous organizations have spoken out against the Senate’s amendment to the bill, including—the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, the National Association of Wholesalers-Distributors, the Associated Builders and Contractors, and the National Roofing Contractors Association. One group, the National Payroll Reporting Consortium, Inc., even went so far as to send a letter to leadership in both chambers saying the two-month extension “could create substantial problems, confusion and costs affecting a significant percentage of U.S. employers and employees.” The NPRC is a non-profit organization that does not usually take positions on policy.
