House GOP unveils bill renewing payroll tax cut

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

House Republicans unveiled a bill Friday renewing the Social Security payroll tax cut and extending but trimming unemployment benefits but barreled toward a showdown with President Barack Obama by including language jumpstarting work on a controversial oil pipeline.

With Democrats claiming the measure is too stingy toward jobless and lower-income people, next week’s House vote looms as the opening scuffle in a year-end battle that will let each party spotlight its economic priorities ahead of November’s presidential and congressional elections.

The two parties generally agree on the bill’s pillars: preventing the Jan. 1 expiration of payroll tax cuts and of extra coverage for the long-term unemployed, and avoiding a mandated cut in payments the government sends doctors for treating Medicare patients.

But the GOP tax cut and jobless benefits are less generous than Democrats want. And Republicans ignore the White House’s preference to finance the bill by boosting taxes on millionaires, instead paying their bill’s price tag — more than $180 billion — by extracting money from federal workers, boosting federal fees and requiring higher-earning seniors to pay more for Medicare.

While the measure’s chief ingredients had been clear for days, the 369-page legislation revealed new details. These included letting states administer drug tests to some unemployment benefit applicants and barring welfare recipients from using their benefits at strip clubs, liquor stores and casinos, among other items.