House Speaker John Boehner heads from a meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Dec. 19, 2011, to speak to the media. Partisan to the core, Congress careened toward a holiday-season standoff Monday on legislation to prevent a Social Security payroll tax increase for 160 million workers on Jan. 1. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)LAURIE KELLMAN,Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) – Sen. Mitch McConnell does not high-five easily or often. But a deal to keep American workers’ taxes from rising on Jan. 1 was reason enough for the coolest negotiator in the Senate to lift a hand on camera and slap – or pat – some skin.
His celebration was premature.
Furious House Republicans said McConnell’s deal for a two-month extension of payroll tax cuts is 10 months too few. They are prepared to let everyone’s Social Security taxes rise an average $20 a week for a while if that’s what it takes to extend the cut for a year. And they are intent on dragging the vacationing Senate back to Washington to do it their way.
“I don’t care about the political implications,” Rep. Tom Reed, R-N.Y., said Monday.