Obama Pushes Boehner To Pass Tax Cut Extension

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stepping up the pressure to reach a deal, President Barack Obama has promised House Speaker John Boehner he is committed to immediately starting work on a full-year extension of payroll tax cuts if the House first passes a short-term compromise.

Boehner called Obama Thursday morning, their second conversation in as many days. The White House said Obama reiterated to the speaker that the only viable option for preventing the tax cuts from expiring at the end of the year is for the House to pass a two-month extension. That measure was already approved overwhelmingly last week by the Senate, which then swiftly left Washington for the holidays.

Boehner has insisted that both chambers instead negotiate a full-year agreement by the end of the year.

Unless a deal is reached by the end of the year, the White House says taxes will go up on 160 million Americans at a time when the economy is still struggling toward recovery.

The White House asked the public to write in on Twitter about how the tax hikes would impact their lives. Some of those who responded to the administration’s inquiry will join Obama at the White House Thursday as the president makes another pubic appeal for the House to approve a two-month extension.

The Obama administration says a person making $50,000 a year would lose $40 per paycheck if Congress fails to extend the payroll cuts.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.