Speaking from Wisconsin on Wednesday, President Obama praised congressional lawmakers, saying reports of progress on a prospective extension of payroll tax cuts and an extension of unemployment benefits.
“For starters, I’m glad to see that Congress seems to be on the way to making progress on extending the payroll tax cut so that taxes don’t go up on you and 160 million working Americans,” Obama told employees of the Master Lock company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“It will make a real difference in the lives of millions of people and as soon as Congress sends an extension of this tax cut and unemployment insurance to my desk, I will sign it right away,” Mr. Obama added.
Mr. Obama, who traveled the Midwest in an effort to build support for his 2012 re-election campaign, has repeatedly called on Capitol Hill lawmakers to pass an extension of payroll tax cuts.
Capitol Hill leaders said Wednesday that a proposed deal to extend the payroll tax cuts and unemployment extension has the necessary support for passage.
“I do expect — if the agreement comes together like I expect it will — the House should vote this week,” said House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican.
“We’re way down the road from where we were just a few days ago,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat and one of the leading sponsors of the pending legislation, said there were “just a couple of little wrinkles” left that he believed would be resolved on Wednesday.
“I think a lot of people realize Congress is not enjoying a great reputation,” he told reporters. “Both sides recognized the need to get this done.”
Lawmakers said among the unresolved items were details of the savings to be used to pay for about $50 billion of the roughly $150 billion package.
Once finalized, the measure would be an election-year victory for President Obama, who made the payroll tax cut a keystone of his largely ignored jobs creation plan in September.
On Tuesday, House Republicans emerging from a closed-door meeting said reaction to the package was generally positive, with some saying it reflected a desire to avoid spending months debating an issue that cost them dearly last year.
