Reuters Via Yahoo! Writes: House Speaker John Boehner caved in to growing criticism from within and outside his Republican Party, agreeing on Thursday to a short-term deal to extend a payroll tax cut for 160 million Americans.
In a dramatic reversal that appeared to end a standoff with Democrats, Boehner told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid he would set a vote in the House on a Senate-passed two-month extension of the tax cut and jobless benefits – key supports for a fitful U.S. economic recovery.
The Republicans’ about-face contrasts with a year of dominance in Congress in which their staunch opposition to higher taxes and spending yielded a string of successes.
Their backpedalling this time handed a rare victory to President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats as well as much-needed momentum going into the November 2012 election.
In the battle of optics, Boehner and the party that fights for lower taxes found themselves being blamed for not helping avert a tax hike for middle-class Americans come December 31.
“We have fought the good fight. Why not do the right thing for the American people even though it’s not exactly what we want,” a deflated Boehner told a news conference after giving up his push for a one-year deal that faced near impossible odds.
