I was reading this morning that the Senate was unable to pass a payroll tax cut bill yesterday. There were two bills and neither passed.
You may recall that the employee share of FICA was reduced from 6.2 to 4.2 percent for 2011. The balance of 1.45 percent for Medicare was untouched. The purpose was to stimulate, or at least not depress, the economy.
The problem is that the 2 percent reduction expires at the end of 2011.
The politicians now want to extend the program. The Senate Democrats proposed a plan to reduce the 6.2 percent withholding to 3.1 percent. In an unanticipated move, the Democrats proposed this be paid for by a tax increase on the wealthy.
The Republicans proposed extending the tax cut at 2 percent and paying for it by freezing federal salaries and streamlining the federal workforce by 10 percent. This was predictably described as extreme.
The President demanded action and announced his next vacation.
The House is taking up the issue next.
