that would ve delivered on behalf of the american people. as the president has traveled around the country, he s received a great deal of support for this american jobs act, and it is frustrating that the republicans wouldn t support it. i want to get back to the payroll extension. and any potential for a compromise with the republicans on this. because obviously democrats would like a vote on this fairly soon in the next week or so. mitch mcconnell says that republicans do not want to tax the wealthy to pay for the extension. instead, he says, the gop would agree to continue the current payroll tax relief for another year. if it s paid for. would a compromise of some sort like that or 4.2%, would that be palatable? the president is interested in making sure that whatever we do is fiscally responsible. it was very important to him given our deficit. and joe, i know this is resinating with you that the american jobs act would be paid for. he came up with a proposal that was paid for
now he s focusing on the part that tools with payroll tax cuts. they re set to expire at the end of the year. the president calling for an extension of those tax cuts which average about $1,000 per household. today the senate minority leader mitch mcconnell said he s confident that the pill will pass, but bill will pass, but rejecting a plan from senate democrats to pay for it with a new 3% tax on millionaires. in all likelihood, we will agree to continue the current payroll tax relief for another year, but we believe it should be paid for. senate republicans will offer an alternative that would pay for it. shep: and this afternoon, the white house refused to say whether president obama would sign the bill if the tax cuts added to the deficit. ed henry is live at the white house and the top story at the bottom of the hour, this would be a hard one not to let go through around this time of year, an election year coming. that s right. it seems likely the president
we should restore the old rate. that s my feeling. and if the payroll tax cut expires, 100 million households would see a tax increase. today the republicans finally woke up and said they d go along with a tax cut for the middle class, but they re still protecting the .2%. i think at the end of the day, there s a lot of sentiment in our conference, clearly a majority of sentiment for continuing the payroll tax relief we enacted a year ago in these tough times. we believe with this kind of deficit, we ought to pay for it. joining me now is senator sherrod brown of ohio. senator, good to have you with us tonight. thanks, ed. republicans, you have to get them credit. they do a hell of a job of protecting the wealthy. they re coming forward saying, we ll do something. to you think you ll get revenues on the table from these guys? we ve seen this movie. this 2%, 2% or 3% depending on what we do, payroll tax cut, is a cost of living adjustment. wages have been so flat so long in th
the republicans to vote again against tax cuts. well, now as of this afternoon, it looks like the senate republicans are crying uncle. in all likelihood, we will agree to continue the current payroll tax relief for another year. i think at the end of the day, there s a lot of sentiment in our conference. clearly a majority of sentiment for continuing the payroll tax relief that we enacted a year ago in these tough times. they already voted against it, but now they are changing their minds. so that was surprising development number one today. surprising development number two relates to the former number two. according to politico.com, the special guest star at the senate republicans weekly and otherwise unnotable caucus lunch today was former vice president dick cheney. as with many stories about mr. cheney, the details are murky. as politico put it today it s not clear why cheney s there
suggesting to you that the bush tax cuts came about on the top of two wars and that none of my republican colleagues will thing about any taxation, reform, or eliminating any taxation, and as the previous guest said as i heard, here they are talking about they don t want to have the payroll tax relief that we know creates 400,000 jobs and put, $900 in the pockets of those. i say to you, here is a person saying i ll be open to the discussion because i believe conditioning should not abdicate its authority to 12 members of congress. neil: i understand that but i am confused although i am just slow to understand this. when our producer called your top guy on this, we just want to clarify, she wanted to see all the bush tax cuts expire, correct? he said, yep, and you are saying you want to be open to that