House approves payroll tax cut extension

"...The House approved the payroll tax cut extension Friday in a 293-132 vote, sending it to the Senate...

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) added today that extending the holiday without an offsetting spending cut would starve Social Security, as the payroll tax funds the Social Security Trust Fund.

"I'm not saying anything disparaging about the leadership on both sides of the aisle and the leadership in both bodies, but we are taking money away from the Social Security Trust Fund and we are substituting an IOU that may or may not ever be repaid," Barton said..."

Read more at thehill.com

Is Obama the 'Damn Politician' that FDR Warned About?

"...In 1941, President FDR explained why he chose to fund Social Security through a payroll tax in as follows:

“We put those payroll contributions there so as to give the contributors a legal, moral, and political right to collect their pensions and their unemployment benefits. With those taxes in there, no damn politician can ever scrap my social security program”

For more than seven decades, FDR’s strategy has proven effective. Talk to someone in or near retirement – even people who consider themselves small government conservatives – and you will often hear them state that they have a right to their Social Security benefit because they paid for it over their working life..."

Read more at forbes.com

Social Security Payroll Tax Progress

"...Under the emerging pact, a 2 percentage-point cut in the Social Security payroll tax would be extended through the end of the year, with the nearly $100 billion cost added to the deficit. Jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed would be renewed as well, with the $30 billion or so cost paid for in part through auctioning broadcast spectrum to wireless companies and requiring federal workers to contribute more toward their pensions..."

Read more at foxnews.com

Payroll tax break shows need for Social Security reform

"...The payroll tax holiday will reduce Social Security revenue by an additional $105 billion for the full year - deficits that must be made up by transfers from general revenue.

The payroll tax holiday is also destroying the myth of the trust fund..."

Read more at mercedsunstar.com

Will payroll tax cut deal come sooner than expected?

"...The one-year payroll tax deal that eluded Congress last month — and set off a nasty brawl that bloodied Republicans who opposed Democrats’ short-term fix — could get wrapped up surprisingly quickly in the new session..."

Read more at politico.com

Social Security Payroll Tax Cut and Future Funding

"...By extending the payroll tax cut, Congress and the administration have quietly made a critical change in how Social Security is funded — one that some in Washington worry could undermine the program’s foundation if lawmakers keep renewing the tax break.

For the first time in the program’s history, tens of billions of dollars from the government’s general pool of revenue are being funneled to the Social Security trust fund to make up for the revenue lost to the tax cut..."

Read more at washingtonpost.com

Boehner Gets Behind Two-Month Payroll Tax Cut

"...Boehner said at a news conference late Thursday that the House plans to vote on a new version of the Senate-passed bill -- which would extend the payroll tax cut for another two months -- despite earlier opposing a short-term extension

In exchange, the Senate will appoint negotiators who will meet with House lawmakers to next hammer out an extension of the tax cut for the rest of 2012..."

Read more at foxnews.com

Republicans Pressured to Accept Payroll Tax Cut Extension

"...If the Congress cannot reach a deal by Dec. 31, the payroll tax American workers pay to fund the Social Security federal retirement program will rise immediately to 6.2 percent, from 4.2 percent..."

Read more at foxbusiness.com

End Social Security Myth by cutting Payroll Taxes

"...The debate over extending this year’s Social Security payroll tax cut has flipped Washington upside down. Democrats want to reduce taxes to get the economy moving. Republicans emphasize paying for essential government services. “Keep your word to the American people and don’t raise taxes on them,” opined President Barack Obama..."

Read more at forbes.com

Agreement reached on Social Security tax cut extension

"...Senate leaders agreed on compromise legislation Friday night to extend Social Security payroll tax cuts and jobless benefits for two months while requiring President Barack Obama to accept Republican demands for a swift decision on the fate of an oil pipeline that promises thousands of jobs..."

Read more at star-telegram.com

Social security payroll tax cut introduced by GOP

"...House Republicans unveiled a bill Friday renewing the Social Security payroll tax cut and extending but trimming unemployment benefits but barreled toward a showdown with President Barack Obama by including language jumpstarting work on a controversial oil pipeline..."

Read more at foxnews.com

Payroll tax cut extension future unclear

"...Senate defeat of competing Democratic and Republican plans to extend a cut in the Social Security payroll tax has punted the issue to the House, where GOP leaders are facing ideological divisions within the party over..."

Read more at washingtonpost.com

Social Security Payroll Tax Cut

Article Link: Senate Democrats Push Obama Payroll Tax Cut

Article Snippet: "...The $248 billion plan would trim Social Security payroll taxes from 6.2 percent to 3.1 percent in hopes of propping up the still-weak economy..."

Reference: abcnews.go.com