GOP freshman: House caved to Dems again, gave gift of uncertainty

{mosads}House Republican leaders have agreed to pass a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits, bowing to demands from President Obama, Democratic leaders and senior members of their own party.

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced the agreement with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) Thursday evening after briefing rank-and-file House Republicans on a conference call. The House has agreed to pass a version of the Senate’s two-month payroll tax cut legislation, with a fix demanded by Republicans to make implementation easier.

Huelskamp, a Tea Party-backed conservative, said the “freshman class of 2010” was responsible for the GOP retaking control of the House and that those freshman were tired of compromising.

“We were sent here with a clear set of instructions from the American people to put an end to business as usual in Washington, yet here we are being asked to sign off on yet another gimmick,” Huelskamp said. “No wonder the American people are left with a bad taste in their mouths when it comes to Congress.”

The leaders agreement could be passed in both chambers by unanimous consent as early as Friday, but any individual legislator could torpedo the deal and force the full House and Senate to return to Washington and vote on it. The Senate bill upon which the agreement is based passed the upper chamber on Saturday by an 89-10 vote.

As to whether any of the 242 House Republicans would appear in the Capitol to object, Boehner said he had no guarantees. “I don’t know that, but that’s our goal, to do it by unanimous consent,” he said.

Huelskamp did not say if he would object to the payroll tax extension, but he hinted that his attention was already turning to the coming battle over the expriring Bush-era tax rates for the wealthy.