الرئيسية
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama signed into law a
two-month payroll tax cut extension on Friday, capping a year of fierce
partisan combat over taxes and spending that will resume in January and
play heavily in the 2012 elections.
The Senate and the House of Representatives, by voice votes in
chambers nearly emptied for the holidays, passed a $33 billion (21
billion pounds) bill to keep the payroll tax rate at 4.2 percent through
February. It had been scheduled to increase on January 1 to 6.2
percent. Obama swiftly signed the bill.
"We have a lot more work to do," the president said at the White
House. "This continues to be a make-or-break moment for the middle class
... There are going to be some important debates next year."
Obama heads to vacation in Hawaii with an important political win in
his portfolio after he and fellow Democrats prevailed in the message war
by backing lower taxes for middle-class Americans in the midst of a
fragile economic recovery.
The battle took a toll on House Republicans led by Speaker John
Boehner, who were forced to make an embarrassing retreat and agree to a
short-term deal Thursday after getting hit by critics on all sides,
include their colleagues in the Senate.
The temporary fix lets lawmakers lower the curtain, for now, on a
year of political deadlock that in the end produced only a series of
inconclusive truces. The fiscal policy debate is set to rage straight
through the 2012 election season and beyond.
While Congress is on a long winter break now and does not return to
full swing until late January, newly appointed negotiators are expected
to begin work soon on figuring out how to pay for extending the payroll
tax cut through 2012.
Republicans have sought a continued freeze on federal worker pay and
cuts in Medicare benefits for the wealthy. Democrats have rejected both
ideas while proposing a surtax on the wealthy to cover the extension's
cost. Republicans reject this.
Both sides have been open to cutting federal workers' pension
benefits. There also were last-minute Senate negotiations last week on
possibly ending some tax breaks for the wealthy, such as a small one
involving corporate jets.
Minutes after the bipartisan deal was passed by Congress, the bickering that has come to dominate Capitol Hill resumed.
two-month payroll tax cut extension on Friday, capping a year of fierce
partisan combat over taxes and spending that will resume in January and
play heavily in the 2012 elections.
The Senate and the House of Representatives, by voice votes in
chambers nearly emptied for the holidays, passed a $33 billion (21
billion pounds) bill to keep the payroll tax rate at 4.2 percent through
February. It had been scheduled to increase on January 1 to 6.2
percent. Obama swiftly signed the bill.
"We have a lot more work to do," the president said at the White
House. "This continues to be a make-or-break moment for the middle class
... There are going to be some important debates next year."
Obama heads to vacation in Hawaii with an important political win in
his portfolio after he and fellow Democrats prevailed in the message war
by backing lower taxes for middle-class Americans in the midst of a
fragile economic recovery.
The battle took a toll on House Republicans led by Speaker John
Boehner, who were forced to make an embarrassing retreat and agree to a
short-term deal Thursday after getting hit by critics on all sides,
include their colleagues in the Senate.
The temporary fix lets lawmakers lower the curtain, for now, on a
year of political deadlock that in the end produced only a series of
inconclusive truces. The fiscal policy debate is set to rage straight
through the 2012 election season and beyond.
While Congress is on a long winter break now and does not return to
full swing until late January, newly appointed negotiators are expected
to begin work soon on figuring out how to pay for extending the payroll
tax cut through 2012.
Republicans have sought a continued freeze on federal worker pay and
cuts in Medicare benefits for the wealthy. Democrats have rejected both
ideas while proposing a surtax on the wealthy to cover the extension's
cost. Republicans reject this.
Both sides have been open to cutting federal workers' pension
benefits. There also were last-minute Senate negotiations last week on
possibly ending some tax breaks for the wealthy, such as a small one
involving corporate jets.
Minutes after the bipartisan deal was passed by Congress, the bickering that has come to dominate Capitol Hill resumed.