It wasn't the deal house Republicans were holding out hope for, but Friday a compromise was reached to extend the payroll tax holiday by two months.
Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner presided over Friday’s vote in the Senate. But he knows that this fight is just beginning.
"I'm glad that the house today passed the bill that they should have passed a week ago,” Sen. Warner said in a phone interview. “But we also have to recognize we (need to) start negotiating now for another extension rather than always waiting for the last moment."
If the two sides weren't able to come to a compromise, 160 million Americans would have seen an increase in taxes on average of $1,000 more starting in 2012, or about $40 per pay check (assuming one pay check every two weeks).
Many House Republicans, like 5th District Representative Robert Hurt, were holding out for a one year extension on the payroll tax holiday, instead of two months.
Rep. Hurt said he understands why Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) agreed to the compromise, but he's unhappy with the Senate for not coming back to the bargaining table.
"I was in the state legislature for nine years, and never heard an objection to sitting down at a conference table and ironing out differences between the (State) Senate position and the House (House of Delegates) position,” Hurt said. “The consequences of what happened (Thursday) is the House position was totally made irrelevant."
Congress now has until March 1st to come up with a long term extension on the payroll tax. That's something both sides are cautiously optimistic about.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement