Obama: Will Veto Payroll Tax Cut Extension, Jobs Created by Keystone XL Pipeline

Washington Times - President Obama on Tuesday said he will veto House Republicans’ payroll tax extension unless the GOP ditches spending cuts and instead pairs the tax cut with a tax increase on the wealthy. The threat, communicated by the White House in an official statement of policy, sets up a bruising year-end showdown that could even risk another government shutdown, since Democrats have signaled they won’t sign off on a massive spending bill to keep the government open unless the GOP agrees to their demands on the payroll tax cut.

House Republicans are still pushing ahead with a planned vote later Tuesday on their package, which would extend this year’s payroll tax cut into 2012, but couples it with a provision that would force the administration to make a final decision on the Keystone XL pipeline. The administration, caught between environmentalists who oppose the pipeline and labor unions who support it, has tried to put off a final decision until after the election. But the White House, in its veto threat, said nothing about the pipeline, instead attacking the GOP’s use of spending cuts instead of tax increases to offset the Social Security revenue lost from the payroll tax cut. Read the full story here: News New Mexico

Obama: Will Veto Payroll Tax Cut Extension, Jobs Created by Keystone XL Pipeline