- 229-193 payroll tax cut voted down source
- » Shot down, softly: The House voted today on the Senate’s bill to extend (temporarily, by two months) the payroll tax cut President Obama has been calling for; the bill also would have extended unemployment insurance. The bill failed, though not on an up-or-down vote — the House instead voted affirmatively (with 229 “yeas”) to disapprove of the bill, calling for the two houses of Congress to hold conference to hammer out changes. Problem is, the Senate is out of session for the year, and Majority Leader Harry Reid has no intention of reconvening: “My House colleagues should be clear on what their vote means today… in ten days, 160 million middle class Americans will see a tax increase, over two million Americans will begin losing their unemployment benefits, and millions of senior citizens on Medicare could find it harder to receive treatment from physicians.” Seven Republicans joined Democrats in opposition.