Prospects for extending President Barack Obama's signature payroll tax cut, once considered a slam dunk on Capitol Hill, now seem far less certain as House-Senate talks have deadlocked over finding ways to pay for it.
In a contentious negotiating session Tuesday, Democrats came out against House GOP proposals to pay for the 2 percentage point payroll tax holiday by freezing federal workers' pay and requiring more affluent seniors to pay more for Medicare premiums.
After four public sessions, the House-Senate talks have failed to yield a single significant breakthrough. Michigan Rep. Dave Camp, the top GOP negotiator, has turned the focus to finding ways to foot the bill for $150 billion to $160 billion cost of the payroll tax cut, renewed jobless benefits and other measures through year's end.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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