Region's Reps Back Deal; Obama Warns on Debt Talks
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- It was four “yes” votes for the U.S. congressmen whose districts include portions of the five-county region but not so for seven Republicans in Ohio’s delegation who bucked their leader, House Speaker John Boehner, in voting against the compromise to avoid sending the nation over the so-called fiscal cliff.
In a bipartisan 257-167 vote late Tuesday night, the U. S. House of Representatives approved the deal the U.S. Senate passed early Tuesday morning but with much stronger bipartisan numbers, 89-8. U.S. Reps. Tim Ryan, D-17, Bill Johnson, R-6, Steve LaTourette, R-14 and Mike Kelly, R-Pa 3, all voted in favor of the Senate legislation. So, too, did Speaker Boehner, who broke tradition that speakers typically do not cast votes.
The House Republican’s No. 2 man, Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia, voted against the deal after failing to secure sufficient support to amend the Senate bill.
The compromise measure (READ White House summary) averts income tax increases on individuals earning less than $400,000 and households earning less that $450,000. It also stops -- for now -- huge budget cuts and extends unemployment benefits for another year. Left unresolved, and setting the stage for another fight early this year, is whether to again increase the federal government’s debt ceiling and by how much federal spending must be cut.
Said President Obama as he appeared in the briefing room following the House vote: “The one thing that I think, hopefully, the new year will focus on is seeing if we can put a package like this together with a little bit less drama, a little less brinkmanship, and not scare the heck out of folks quite as much.”
The president’s prepared statement praised “my extraordinary Vice President Joe Biden, as well as [Senate Majority] Leader Harry Reid, Speaker Boehner, [House Minority Leader} Nancy Pelosi, and [Senate Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell.”
After reiterating his openness to compromise, Obama drew his line on the debt-ceiling issue.
“While I will negotiate over many things, I will not have another debate with this Congress over whether or not they should pay the bills that they’ve already racked up through the laws that they passed. … People will remember, back in 2011, the last time this course of action was threatened, our entire recovery was put at risk. Consumer confidence plunged. Business investment plunged. Growth dropped. We can't go down that path again,” the president said.
But many Republicans signaled that’s exactly the path they plan to take – tying deep budget cuts to entitlements – Medicare and Social Security – to the next debt-ceiling debate.
Rep. Kelly, the Republican re-elected in November to his second term representing Mercer County, Pa., and the Erie area, acknowledged the compromise bill he supported last night “is far from perfect. That being said, our attention must immediately turn to doing the real spending and tax reform that needs to be done to restore the fiscal health of this country.” Kelly said. “In the days and weeks to come, I am confident the House will aggressively pursue the long needed spending reform that our constituents rightfully expect and demand."
Hours before the vote, Ryan issued a statement announcing his intention to support the compromise. “This agreement, like every negotiation, contains things for each side to love and hate. But now is the time for everyone to put aside the desire to get 100% of what we want and pass the Senate bill for the good of our country,” he said.
Ryan’s statement noted that the extension of unemployment benefits would benefit some 1,000 steelworkers furloughed with the closing of the former RG Steel mill in Warren.
The Ohio Democratic Party issued a statement urging voters to "take note" of the seven GOP congressmen from the Buckeye State who voted against the compromise. Said the party's chairman, Chris Redfern, "It's deeply disappointing that even after these Republicans' colleagues in the U.S. Senate worked to hammer out a bipartisan deal to avert a self-inflicted recession, these extremists were so rigid in their ideology that they preferred economic disaster to compromise. Congresspersons Chabot, Austria, Gibbs, Jordan, Renacci, Turner, and Schmidt's unyielding opposition to compromise is exactly what is wrong with Washington, and we'll make sure to continually remind voters of their hostility to bipartisanship in the future."
Ohio’s two U.S. senators, Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, and Rob Portman, a Republican, voted in favor of the compromise, as did both of Pennsylvania’s senators, Democrat Robert Casey and Republican Pat Toomey.
Toomey, considered an ultra conservative on fiscal matters, explained his affirmative vote in a statement issued New Year’s Day.
“One of my top priorities since coming to Congress has been to pursue policies that maximize economic growth and job creation. Lower taxes do both,” Toomey said. “Consistent with this commitment, today, I voted to protect 99% of taxpayers from a large tax increase. … I had to accept provisions I did not like – my preference would have been to avoid higher taxes for all Americans. But I believe this legislation is the best we could do for taxpayers and job seekers in Pennsylvania.”
MORE: White House Summarizes Fiscal Cliff Compromise Bill
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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