The New York Times, By Jonathan Weisman.
Presidential politics and a push by both sides to include pet measures could turn negotiations over the extension of President Obama's payroll tax cut into the next partisan donnybrook on Capitol Hill, lawmakers made clear on Tuesday. Meeting for the first time, members of a new bipartisan, House-Senate committee negotiating a final version of a yearlong payroll tax cut agreed that a deal had to be struck before the end of February, when a short-term extension that passed in December will expire. Expiration of the 2011 two-percentage-point cut to the payroll tax would raise taxes on around 160 million workers, and 3 million could lose their jobless benefits if unemployment insurance is not renewed as part of the deal. Congress, already at historic lows in popularity, will take another hit if consensus cannot be reached. "People are struggling," said Representative Greg Walden, Republican of Oregon and a member of the conference committee. "People are wondering what the hell is going on in Washington." But negotiators are far apart in how to cover the $160 billion it would cost to maintain the cut, extend expiring unemployment benefits and avoid deep cuts in fees to doctors treating Medicare patients. . . . Click
here to view this article as it originally appeared online.