House Republican leaders hunkered down in the Capitol Wednesday, caught in a public relations disaster that threatens to hang on the party the blame for a middle class tax increase on Jan. 1.
For a second day, Democrats pummeled House Republicans for refusing to agree to Senate-passed legislation that would extend an expiring payroll tax cut for two months along with unemployment insurance benefits and full Medicare reimbursements for doctors.
Even Senate Republicans, who backed the two-month extension that was the result of a compromise with Democrats, are piling on the House GOP, calling on House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to end the brinkmanship and pass the short-term Senate bill that would at least delay a 2 percent tax increase for 160 million Americans.
But Boehner said House Republicans want to extend the tax cut and jobless benefits for an entire year to provide greater stability for businesses. Boehner on Wednesday met with a group of House Republicans he tapped to negotiate with the Democrats over a long-term bill, but no Democrats showed up.
Democrats say the GOP is being boxed in by a faction of far-right freshmen who don't really support a payroll tax cut. The negotiations, they said, are over.
"You've got the Republican right and then you have the Tea Party Republicans," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. "That is where this fight lies, and the casualty is, unfortunately, the 160 million Americans who will see their taxes go up on Jan. 1."
President Obama phoned Boehner Wednesday, asking him to pass the Senate bill.
"The speaker told the president that his conference was elected to change the way Washington does business and that we should not waste the next 10 days simply because it is an inconvenient time of year," a top GOP aide familiar with the call said.
In a radio interview later Wednesday, Boehner said Republicans want a yearlong bill that reforms the unemployment insurance program and is fully paid for, most likely by further budget cuts.
"The disagreement is in the offsets," Boehner said.
The House last week passed a yearlong extension whose costs would be covered by a proposed pay freeze for federal workers. The measure also allows states to test jobless benefit recipients for drugs.
While the House GOP remains steadfast in refusing to back the Senate bill, others in the Republican Party are angry and fearful that Boehner has allowed Obama to beat Republicans on the issue of cutting taxes.
The Wall Street Journal's conservative editorial page on Wednesday ran a piece with the headline "The GOP's payroll tax fiasco: How did Republicans manage to lose the tax issue to Obama?"
By the end of the day, both parties were left calling for the other to return from their monthlong recess, with Democrats insisting the House pass the short-term Senate bill and the House calling on the Senate to negotiate a yearlong compromise.
A top Senate GOP aide told The Washington Examiner that Republicans have the most to lose, particularly if Obama is able to hammer the party on the issue when he delivers his annual address to Congress next month.
"This has turned into about the worse case scenario because the tax will eventually get extended and if they don't get it figured out soon, the State of the Union will be all about Republicans raising taxes," the aide said.
