Tax Breaks for New Jobs Gain Bipartisan Support

Proponents hope measure will create 250K jobs

(AP) - US companies that hire unemployed workers will get a temporary payroll tax holiday under a bill that easily won final congressional approval today. The 68-29 Senate vote sends the legislation to the White House, where President Obama has promised to sign it into law. Optimistic estimates predict the tax break could generate 250,000 jobs through the end of the year, a tiny fraction of the 8.4 million jobs lost since the start of the recession. More»

(NEWSER) - Offshore tax havens may not be fair, but they’ve been around for decades. So why is President Obama taking them on now, Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich asks in Salon. It’s not to try to keep jobs here, as the White House claims; the move might even drive jobs away. It’s far more likely this is a sly strategic move in the universal health-care fight. More»

Pension, health care issues final sticking points

(NEWSER) - Congressional negotiators have reached a deal on a $150 billion economic bill that will extend the payroll tax holiday through the end of the year, while also extending unemployment benefits and preventing an automatic cut in doctors' Medicare reimbursements. Congress could vote on the bill as soon as today, the Washington Post reports, in what White House aides say may be the last significant piece of legislation passed before the election. More»

Boehner and Co. say they'll accept tax cut without paying for it elsewhere

(NEWSER) - House Republican leaders have surprised and angered rank-and-file lawmakers by abruptly backing down from demands that a 10-month extension of the payroll tax cut be paid for with cuts elsewhere. GOP leaders are wary of holding up a tax cut for 160 million Americans in an election year, Politico notes, but John Boehner's raucous caucus will likely chafe at the move, which will add around $100 billion to the deficit. Still, the measure will now likely pass; even Nancy Pelosi hasn't signaled opposition. More»

Reports say that Boehner is behind it, but others are 'in full revolt'

(NEWSER) - The Senate easily passed the payroll tax cut package yesterday, but "easy" probably isn't a word that will be linked to the deal's fate when it reaches the House tomorrow. Both the Washington Post and Politico report that many House Republicans aren't pleased with the two-month deal. How unhappy are they? Politico uses terms like "in full revolt" and "complained bitterly," while the Post calls the opposition that was voiced in a private conference call yesterday "vigorous." One person on the line apparently said that if the House is made to vote tomorrow, GOP leaders should ready themselves for, in the words of Politico, "a rebellion." More»