Hanabusa: What Are Republicans Afraid Of?

With the stalemate over extending a payroll tax cut for 160 million American workers, Rep. Colleen Hanabusa issued a statement blasting House Republicans for playing “procedural games.”

Hanabusa was among those who wanted an up-or-down vote on a bipartisan Senate deal to extend the tax cuts, but GOP lawmakers refused. 

“House Republicans did not let us vote,” Hanabusa said. “What are they afraid of? The voters didn’t send us here to play procedural games. They sent us here to vote on legislation that serves their needs.”

Rep. Mazie Hirono also issued a statement criticizing her Republican colleagues with some holiday-related sarcasm.

 “The House Majority’s gift to 700,000 workers in Hawaii is to raise their taxes by not extending the payroll tax cut, and cut unemployment for 3,000 people in the islands in January,” Hirono said. “The time for negotiations is over.”

The payroll tax cuts are set to expire on Jan. 1, and as the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call puts it, Congress is now hunkering down for an “old-fashioned staring contest” over the issue.