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Hoyer Wants Unemployment Extension, Immigration Rewrite Before Unpaid-For Tax Credits (Video)

(CQ Roll Call File Photo)
(CQ Roll Call File Photo)

House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer called Republicans to task on Thursday for bringing up unpaid-for tax extenders while allowing unemployment insurance to lapse, and suggested that all of it could be paid for if the House passed a comprehensive immigration overhaul .  

In his weekly colloquy, the Maryland Democrat told Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., that it is not right for Republicans to demand that certain policies be offset — such as a “doc fix ” and unemployment insurance — while the House plans to take up a $155 billion permanent research and development tax credit that is not paid for.  

“We are going to make a decision, apparently, not to pay for something that we know is going to increase the deficit. So the analogy when we want things paid for is not always followed,” Hoyer said. “For instance, unemployment insurance, almost invariably not paid for. … We have a bipartisan, paid-for unemployment insurance bill that the Senate passed … that we can’t get to the floor. It’s paid for and helps 2.5 million people who are falling through the cracks. Yet we bring a bill to the floor that has a $155 billion cost, don’t pay for it and the unemployed 2.5 million are ignored.”  

Cantor shot back that when Democrats were in power, they also extended the R&D tax credit without paying for it. He said Republicans believe that easing taxes would do more to stimulate the economy than handing out benefits. “We’ve essentially been allowing an R&D tax credit since 1981 in this country, so let’s call it what it is and make it permanent so that we can get back on the path to growth. Addressing growth, addressing our unfunded liabilities connected with entitlement programs, that’s the sure way to reduce deficits and reduce the debt burden,” he said.  

Hoyer also noted that if the House passed a comprehensive immigration rewrite, it could pay for all the tax extenders. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Senate-passed immigration bill would save $175 billion over a decade.  

“Mr. Boehner indicated that that was not being done because it was tough and people didn’t want to do tough things. I understand that. It’s hard to do tough things. That’s why they’re called tough,” Hoyer said. “The reason we’re considering this bill next week is because it’s easy to do. The reason we’re not considering comprehensive immigration reform is because it’s difficult to do, but comprehensive immigration reform would pay for all of the tax cuts that are being proposed in these six extenders and indeed in the extenders proposed by the Senate Finance Committee.”  

Cantor replied that the biggest impediment to action on immigration legislation is President Barack Obama and the trust deficit between Republicans and the White House.  

“I’ve said to the president that what could help is we start rebuilding that trust, which starts with an admission that it can’t be can’t be my way or the highway,” Cantor said. “There are things that this House has done before, like a green card stapled to a diploma, but the president says, ‘No we can’t do something like that. They can’t, we can’t do something like that without taking care of everything.'”  

   

   

Related stories:

Obama Pressures GOP on Unemployment Extension, Minimum Wage


Reid, Heller Still Hope for House Action on Unemployment Extension


Senate Passes Unemployment Benefits Extension


Unemployment Extension Vote Not Worrying House Republicans


Boehner Still Cool to Senate Unemployment Extension Bill


Unemployment Extension Fight Pits Portman Against Boehner


Doctors Win, Jobless Lose: The GOP Confronts New Perception Problem

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