ON C-SPAN2 NOW-- extension of unemployment benefits. Max Baucus(D-MT)

[ProgressiveEconomist]

is opening debate

Even posters at the Wall St Journal are outraged by the Jim-Bunning-engineered expiration yesterday and Jon Kyl's (R-AZ) attempts to tie unemployment extension to repeal of or sharp cuts in the "Paris Hilton" estate tax.

**** WHAT'S YOUR OPINION ****

From http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2010/02/26/should-the-jobs-bill-be-held-up-for-an-estate-tax/tab/print/ :

"Should the Jobs Bill Be Held Up for an Estate Tax? There is a push underway by Republicans in Congress to trade their support for a jobs bill for a more favorable estate tax. The left says it is a blatant case of the rich holding the poor hostage. The right say it is the only way to get a reasonable compromise on the estate-tax issue.

According to an article in The Hill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) are talking about giving Republicans an estate-tax rate they want in return for Republican votes needed for any jobs legislation, which would extend unemployment payments. The estate tax, as you might remember, expired at the end of last year but is scheduled to return next year at pre-2001 levels, which are much higher. In 2001, before the Bush tax cuts, estates valued at more than $675,000 were taxed at 55%. The rate ofr 2009 was 45% on estates valued at more than $3.5 million, or $7 million for married couples.

Republicans want a full repeal of the tax or a version more along the lines of a proposal by Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R., Ariz.) and Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), which would cap the tax at 35 percent on estates worth more than $5 million. Republicans aren¡t likely to win a full repeal (especially not in these populist times) but they may get something close to the Kyl-Lincoln plan.

Lee Farris, Estate Tax Policy Coordinator at the left-leaning United for a Fair Economy called the plan to link the estate tax to the jobs bill ½an outrage. 'Why are Senators Kyl and Grassley more worried about enriching the heirs of multimillionaires than about helping Americans hit hardest by the recession?' she said in a statement."

[ProgressiveEconomist]

1. Baucus--This URGENT bill would extend vital benefits that EXPIRED yesterday

His opening remarks have been followed by a quorum call which should last for up to half an hour or so. Real debate may not atart until as late as 4pm Eastern or so.

C-SPAN screen captions, though rolling very slowly, with minutes-long screens of a sparsely-inhabited Senate chamber, are informative in the meantime.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

2. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is crying about Reid's failure to move on his "bipartisan" bill (Ie estate

tax repeal for the uber-wealthy in return for extension of unemployment benefits).

[eShirl]

3. blackmail

[ProgressiveEconomist]

4. Notice how Grassley has spoken for more than 10 minutes and NEVER mentioned

the estate tax specifically? Without knowledge of the content of the WSJ blog post in the OP, nobody would know that Grassley is talking about the most regressive tax cut in history, and tying it to jobless benefits for people who can't pay for groceries.

[1776Forever]

5. Thanks! Found this on Fox News of all places if anyone wants to read more on this:

Updated March 01, 2010
Reid to Neutralize Bunning's Objection Over Unemployment Aid Bill

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03/01/reid-neutralize-bunnings-objection-unemployment-aid/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%253A+foxnews%252Fpolitics+%2528Text+-+Politics%2529&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to get around Sen. Jim Bunning's objections to a $10 billion jobless aid bill by moving straight to the much-larger $100 billion permanent version of the bill this week, sources told Fox News on Monday.

The Kentucky Republican had objected to the smaller, stopgap bill over concerns about its effect on the budget deficit. That objection threatened unemployment benefits for 400,000 Americans and, according to the Department of Transportation, triggered the furlough Monday of 2,000 transportation workers -- since the bill would have also extended federal highway and transit programs. Federal transit money, however, is included in the $15 billion jobs bill that passed the Senate and is awaiting approval in the House.

The stopgap measure also cut Medicare reimbursements to doctors by 21 percent, since it also funded the so-called "doctor fix" that adds to the deficit.

In his objection, Bunning said had Reid not blown up the bipartisan jobs bill into separate parts, the temporary measure would have been affordable.

But Republican Senate sources said Reid plans to move directly to the permanent version of the bill which, for procedural reasons, Bunning cannot block.

[Arkana]

6. Good. Do it soon, Harry.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

7. Good catch! So this debate on the PERMANENT bill gets around Bunning's

block of the 30-day extension passed by the House.

I originally had the work "permanent" in the thread title, but removed it because of the explanation it would require. Yor post has most of this explanation. Thank you!

But how many days will it take for the Senate to pass this permanent bill, for the House to pass a similar bill, for a House-Senate conference, and for Predient Obama to sign the compromise?

A temporary extension could happen tonight, except for Bunning's continuing obstructionism.

I wonder wheter the nightly news will have ANYTING on historic Republican obstructionism in th e Senate this year, culminating in Bunning's stunning, life-threatening block of urgent benefit extension.

[1776Forever]

11. I agree with you - haven't seen much in depth reporting on this so far even on Rachel or Ed

Ed Schutlz did speak a little on this today but I don't think he realized himself the harm that this non-vote did to so many different areas. I hope he and Rachel go more into it tonight!

[ProgressiveEconomist]

8. Finally! After 39-minutes of plutocratic extortion by Grassley, Dick Durbin (D-IL) is

speaking out strongly for the hundreds of thousands of struggling unemployed Bunning and the Republicans are toying with. Durbin is providing many newsworthy sound bytes that most likely never will get much beyond the tiny CSPAN audience.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

9. Durbin: "I make a unanimous consent request to IMMEDIATELY consider the 30-day extension

bill passed by the House.

"Is there an objection"?

"Object" (Was that Jim Bunning's voice?)

Now Bunning himself has taken the floor.

[Subdivisions]

10. bunning up. n/t

[ProgressiveEconomist]

12. Anyone sure what Bunning was talking about just now? He said, "there is a procedure

for overcoming" the block any of the 100 Senators can raise to any bill, appointment, or other legislative matter. "Why doesn't the democratic majority use this procedure?"

Is anyone sure what procedure Bunnig was talking about? Can a 60-Senator cloture vote be applied to a one-Senator block as well as to a filibuster?

[Missy Vixen]

13. Kyl's now defending the inheritance tax

I'd like to be civil, but I just can't.

Fucker.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

14. Did he say how a repeal of the estate tax would be paid for? I had to step away

from the TV for a few minutes.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

15. Kick