Politics
Obama increases pressure on GOP to extend payroll tax cut
U.S. President Barack Obama. PHOTO/File
President Barack Obama is going on the offense Tuesday, raising pressure on congressional Republicans to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance benefits. But it is unclear if the president will accept a GOP effort to separate the two issues.
With weeks before both provisions expire, Obama will host an event at the White House and release a video to nudge Congress to act soon. The White House event, expected to kick off around 10:40 a.m., will feature Americans sharing stories about what the loss of US$40 per paycheck means to them. That amount is about how much they would lose if the payroll tax cut isn’t extended.
Obama solicited help from the public in December when Congress last fought on the issue. Then, lawmakers failed to pass a yearlong payroll tax cut extension because they couldn’t agree how to pay for it, so they opted for a two-month extension for time to reach a long-term deal. That extension expires in late-February.
