Payroll Tax "Rebate" that would have expired will be renewed -- Republican Congressman UPTON

from Kalamazoo Gazette coverage / M-Live.com -- Michigan Live website:

Congressman Fred Upton (MI - 6th District) said Congress will agree on extending the payroll tax cut, which are set to expire in January.  "My sense is - and it’s still a working project, as we talk now," Upton declared on a syndicated Michigan Politics show (TV). "The keys, particularly from the Republican side, are that these have to be paid for."

The tax allows employees to pay 4.2 percent of their first $106,800 in wages into Social Security, instead of the normal 6.2.  The one-year payroll tax was set to expire in January 2012.  There has been some debate among GOP legislators to how to extend the tax cut, as well as if it has had any economic stimulus, according to THE HILL (Congressional web watch group). The amount of money not paid to Social Security by the tax would be made up by general Treasury funds.

"On Thursday, the majority of Republican senators voted against a GOP proposal to extend the tax cut for another year, which would have primarily been offset with savings wrung from the federal workforce," The Hill article reads.  Democrats have put forward a plan that would lower the tax to 3.1 percent — down from the current 4.2 percent.  During the interview, host Al Hunt asked Upton if approving the tax cut would be considered a political loss for Republicans.

Upton said it isn't. "No. I mean, from - again, from our perspective, they have to be paid for," Upton said during the interview. "This is a tax cut that expires that hurts working Americans, you know, pretty sizable amount, $1,000, $2,000 bucks, depending on how much people earn."