President Obama after watching the deficit Super Committee collapse under the weight of partisan discord plans Tuesday to urge Congress to prevent that failure from resulting in a payroll tax increase at the end of the year.
Some on the so-called Super Committee were hoping to include the payroll tax extension along with an extension of unemployment aid in a final agreement to cut the deficit by $1.2 trillion. The provision passed last year was one of Obamas signature policies and something he has pushed for as part of a larger jobs package that has yet to attract widespread support in Congress. Without a deficit deal the future of the cut and numerous other provisions is unclear.
The president plans to renew his call for the payroll cut to be extended and expanded in a visit Tuesday to New Hampshire.
If we dont act taxes will go up for every single American starting next year. And Im not about to let that happen Obama said Monday previewing the message he was expected to deliver.
But without a deficit-cutting deal its unclear how the Obama administration would propose paying for the cuts which would eat away at the Social Security coffers. And ahead of his visit Tuesday to New Hampshire home of the first-in-the-nation primary the former New England governor who wants to challenge Obama in 2012 effectively blamed the presidents policies for suffocating business in the first place.
Your policies have failed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney wrote in a letter running in three New Hampshire newspapers. Far from bringing the crisis to an end your policies have actively hindered economic recovery.
The presidents trip comes one day after the official collapse of the special congressional deficit-reduction panel which failed to reach a deal on $1.2 trillion in cuts.
Making the payroll tax cut the top post-Super Committee priority the White House says a middle-class family making $50000 a year would see its taxes rise by $1000 if the payroll tax cuts are not extended.
Republicans arent wholly opposed to the extension. In fact party members sent the White House a letter in September stating that extension of the payroll tax cut is one element of Obamas $447 billion jobs bill where the two sides may be able to find common ground.
But some Republicans worry that the tax cut extension would undermine the solvency of Social Security and others are opposed to any effort to pay for the renewal by taxing the wealthiest Americans.
Last years cut in the 6.2 percent payroll tax which raises money for Social Security was accomplished with borrowed money. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney without specifying exactly how it wants another round of cuts paid for said Monday only that the money should come from asking millionaires and billionaires to pay a little bit extra.
A senior administration official said the president would not insist on the cuts being paid for immediately.
The 2 percent payroll tax cut expiring in December gave 121 million families a tax cut averaging $934 last year at a total cost of about $120 billion according to the Tax Policy Center. Obama wants to cut the payroll tax by another percentage point for workers at a total cost of $179 billion and cut the employer share of the tax in half as well for most companies which carries a $69 billion price tag.
The visit is marked by deep political overtones. The president won the state by 9 percentage points in the 2008 election but recent Bloomberg polling shows Romney beating Obama by 10 percentage points in a hypothetical match-up. Romney has built his early GOP primary strategy in large part around New Hampshire.
Romneys print ads in the form of an open letter say the evidence on Obamas economic stewardship is unequivocal -- his policies have fallen short even by the standards your own administration set for itself.
Romney claimed the 2009 stimulus bill was packed with special interests and went toward projects that were far from shovel ready or had absolutely nothing to do with creating jobs.
As a result Romney wrote You placed a burden of debt on America that will take generations to repay and we got almost nothing in return. Romney also faulted the president for pursuing new regulations that created uncertainty in the business community and snuffed out investment.
The payroll tax cut issue though could appeal to independent voters in low-tax New Hampshire.
With Republican candidates blanketing the state with an anti-Obama message ahead of the Jan. 10 primary the president and his surrogates including Vice President Joe Biden are seeking to steal some of the spotlight for their economic message.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
President Obama after watching the deficit Super Committee collapse under the weight of partisan discord plans Tuesday to urge Congress to prevent that failure from resulting in a payroll tax increase at the end of the year.
Some on the so-called Super Committee were hoping to include the payroll tax extension along with an extension of unemployment aid in a final agreement to cut the deficit by $1.2 trillion. The provision passed last year was one of Obamas signature policies and something he has pushed for as part of a larger jobs package that has yet to attract widespread support in Congress. Without a deficit deal the future of the cut and numerous other provisions is unclear.
The president plans to renew his call for the payroll cut to be extended and expanded in a visit Tuesday to New Hampshire.
If we dont act taxes will go up for every single American starting next year. And Im not about to let that happen Obama said Monday previewing the message he was expected to deliver.
But without a deficit-cutting deal its unclear how the Obama administration would propose paying for the cuts which would eat away at the Social Security coffers. And ahead of his visit Tuesday to New Hampshire home of the first-in-the-nation primary the former New England governor who wants to challenge Obama in 2012 effectively blamed the presidents policies for suffocating business in the first place.
Your policies have failed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney wrote in a letter running in three New Hampshire newspapers. Far from bringing the crisis to an end your policies have actively hindered economic recovery.
The presidents trip comes one day after the official collapse of the special congressional deficit-reduction panel which failed to reach a deal on $1.2 trillion in cuts.
Making the payroll tax cut the top post-Super Committee priority the White House says a middle-class family making $50000 a year would see its taxes rise by $1000 if the payroll tax cuts are not extended.
Republicans arent wholly opposed to the extension. In fact party members sent the White House a letter in September stating that extension of the payroll tax cut is one element of Obamas $447 billion jobs bill where the two sides may be able to find common ground.
But some Republicans worry that the tax cut extension would undermine the solvency of Social Security and others are opposed to any effort to pay for the renewal by taxing the wealthiest Americans.
Last years cut in the 6.2 percent payroll tax which raises money for Social Security was accomplished with borrowed money. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney without specifying exactly how it wants another round of cuts paid for said Monday only that the money should come from asking millionaires and billionaires to pay a little bit extra.
A senior administration official said the president would not insist on the cuts being paid for immediately.
The 2 percent payroll tax cut expiring in December gave 121 million families a tax cut averaging $934 last year at a total cost of about $120 billion according to the Tax Policy Center. Obama wants to cut the payroll tax by another percentage point for workers at a total cost of $179 billion and cut the employer share of the tax in half as well for most companies which carries a $69 billion price tag.
The visit is marked by deep political overtones. The president won the state by 9 percentage points in the 2008 election but recent Bloomberg polling shows Romney beating Obama by 10 percentage points in a hypothetical match-up. Romney has built his early GOP primary strategy in large part around New Hampshire.
Romneys print ads in the form of an open letter say the evidence on Obamas economic stewardship is unequivocal -- his policies have fallen short even by the standards your own administration set for itself.
Romney claimed the 2009 stimulus bill was packed with special interests and went toward projects that were far from shovel ready or had absolutely nothing to do with creating jobs.
As a result Romney wrote You placed a burden of debt on America that will take generations to repay and we got almost nothing in return. Romney also faulted the president for pursuing new regulations that created uncertainty in the business community and snuffed out investment.
The payroll tax cut issue though could appeal to independent voters in low-tax New Hampshire.
With Republican candidates blanketing the state with an anti-Obama message ahead of the Jan. 10 primary the president and his surrogates including Vice President Joe Biden are seeking to steal some of the spotlight for their economic message.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
