Senate Passes Short-Term Payroll Tax Cut Extension

Senate Passes Short-Term Payroll Tax Cut Extension Fox News


Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, accompanied by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) They speak to reports about extending the payroll tax cut in Washington, D.C.

The Senate approved this morning by a vote of 89-10 a short-term payroll tax cut extension, which means the American people will still enjoy a two percentage point cut from their Social Security tax.  The Democrats wanted to add a millionaire surtax to finance the measure but abandoned that provision because of the possibility of deepening gridlock on Capitol Hill.  Lawmakers had decided on a two-month extension after they were unable to agree on how to finance the tax cut through the next election.  The $40 billion two-month package uses fee hikes on new mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  Also, the jobless benefits payments average $300 to millions of Americans out of work six months or more will still be continued. 

One of the key provisions that the Republicans were able to secure was a provision to force President Obama to make a decision within the next 60 days on the fate of the Canada-to-Texas Keystone pipeline.  The administration had earlier delayed the project because of "supposed" concerns over environmental issues and safety, although the unions support it and it could create thousands of jobs.  Truthfully speaking, the issue has nothing to do with the environment as much as it does with the government controlling America's choices of energy to run the country.  The Obama administration is trying to control the American people through energy and in turn force the prices of oil to climb even higher.  They don't want the American people to be energy-independent.  They want America to be dependent upon oil from overseas. 

As far as the payroll tax cut issue is concerned, theoretically there shouldn't be a payroll tax.  Social Security is nothing but a Ponzi scheme as Texas Governor Rick Perry rightfully pointed out in a previous presidential debate.  I'm not opposed to a Social Security trust fund for Americans, but the federal government shouldn't be in charge of it.  The American people shouldn't be paying that much in payroll taxes.  The problem's not there isn't enough money to finance Social Security.  The problem is our elected elite has stolen that money and used it for other projects over the last several decades.  Social Security's a fraud the way the government has administered it.  No sane American would invest more money into an IRA than what they draw from it.  However, we as Americans pay far more into the system than what we're reaping from it.  It's a fraud and we need to take Social Security away from the federal government.  WE can't trust them with our dollars.

We need the Canada-to-Texas Keystone pipeline in order to not only create new jobs for workers, but also so Americans can use their own energy resources to finance our lifestyle.  There's no excuse for America to be purchasing our oil from the Middle East when we can produce our own oil.  It's nothing but a means for the government to dictate to the American public what they can and can't use for their energy resources.  It's nothing but fascism.