Lame-duck Congress’ to-do list full

— The unemployed and millionaires. Doctors and black farmers. Illegal aliens hiding from the law and homosexuals hiding in the military. Along with just about everybody else, they all have something at stake as Congress struggles to wrap up its work for the year.

Lawmakers, after taking Thanksgiving week off, arrive in town today for the final stretch of the post election session.

At the top of the to-do list are the George W. Bush-era tax cuts, enacted in 2001 and 2003 and due to expire at year’s end. President Barack Obama and most Democrats want to retain them for any couple earning $250,000 or less a year. Republicans are bent on making them permanent for everybody.

The cuts apply to rates on wage income as well as to dividends and capital gains. A failure to act would mean big tax increases for people at every income level.

Obama has scheduled a meeting at the White House with Republican leaders on Tuesday, and possible options for compromise will be on the table, including providing a temporary extension for the wealthy.

“There will be bipartisan support in the lame duck to extend all the tax cuts for two or three years, and I think that vote will be had before the end of the year,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Sunday. “And if the president doesn’t support that, I think he’s running a risk of making the economy weaker.”

Congress also has a Friday deadline to pass a temporary spending bill to avoid a government shutdown. The Senate hasn’t passed a single spending bill for the budget year that began Oct. 1. Democrats are working on a catchall $1.1 trillion bill to fund the government’s day-to-day operations. Republicans have opposed it.

“If this election showed us anything, it’s that Americans don’t want Congress passing massive trillion-dollar bills that have been thrown together behind closed doors,” said Mitch McConnell, the Senate’s top Republican.

In the pre-Thanksgiving first week of the lame-duck session, the House failed to extend federal unemployment checks for the 2 million people whose benefits will run out during the Christmas season. Republicans objected, saying the $12.5 billion cost of the three-month extension should be paid for so it doesn’t add to the deficit. Democrats have said they’ll try again.

The Senate postponed for a month a 23 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors; it was to begin on Wednesday. The House is expected to go along, giving lawmakers time to come up with a longer-term plan to avoid cuts that could prompt doctors to stop seeing Medicare patients.

As early as tonight, the Senate could pass and send to the House a measure that gives the Food and Drug Administration greater authority to order food recalls and inspect imported food.

The House is to take up a Senate-passed child-nutrition bill, which promotes healthier school lunches and has the support of first lady Michelle Obama.

Also on the to-do list:

Senate Republicans have blocked a defense bill that would end the military’s ban on gays serving openly. The Pentagon is to release a report Tuesday on how lifting “don’t ask, don’t tell” would affect military operations, and Democrats said they will try again to change the policy. Graham said he doesn’t believe there are “anywhere near” the votes on the GOP side for a repeal right now.

Obama has said the new START treaty that would reduce nuclear weapons arsenals in the U.S. and Russia is a “national security imperative” and he wants the Senate to hold a ratification vote this year. But a key Republican, Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, said the vote should be put off until next year. There are “higher priority items” in the lame-duck session, he said Sunday.

There are numerous other tax breaks, such as for research and development, that need to be renewed. Congress is facing a deadline to shield some 21 million from significant tax increases by adjusting the alternative minimum tax by the end of the year. The cost of that is about $70 billion.

On the sidelines, hearings are expected on new airport screening methods judged by some travelers as being too intrusive, and House Republicans will continue to develop the rules under which they will govern when they become the majority in January.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 11/29/2010

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