An Obama victory as GOP reaches agreement on payroll tax

U.S. President Barack Obama

Bowing under intense pressure from members of their own party to end the politically damaging impasse over a payroll tax holiday, House Republican leaders agreed Thursday to accept a temporary extension of the tax cut, beating a hasty retreat from a showdown that Republicans increasingly saw as a threat to their election opportunities next year.

The agreement ended a partisan fight that threatened to keep Congress, and President Obama, in town through Christmas and was just the latest of the fierce fights between House conservatives, the president and the Democratic-controlled Senate. But this one seemed to end in a clear victory for Mr. Obama and the Democrats, at least for now.

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