House Democrats Back Obama on Payroll Tax Cut

Some liberal Democrats oppose payroll tax cuts, seeing them as an excuse to reduce Social Security benefits that are funded through the tax. But House Democratic leaders are joining to back a White House proposal to continue the payroll-tax cut beyond 2011, The Hill reports.

Reps. James Clyburn of South Carolina and John Larson of Connecticut announced Friday that they support extending the payroll tax cut, which President Barack Obama and some leading Senate Democrats view as an important buoy for the economy.


"Extending the payroll tax cut for another year will help keep our fragile economic recovery moving forward, create jobs and improve our long-term fiscal outlook," Clyburn, the No. 3 House Democrat, wrote in a column for the website of the nonprofit Blue Dog Research Forum.