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Payroll tax cut compromise bill appears doomed

WASHINGTON — The House intends to vote down a bipartisan two-month extension of the payroll tax cut that has cleared the Senate and is backed by President Barack Obama, and request immediate negotiations on a full-year renewal, Speaker John Boehner said today.

“It’s time to stop the nonsense. We can resolve these differences and we can do it in a way that provides certainty for job creators and others,” Boehner said at a news conference, although he provided no estimate on how long it might take to produce a compromise.

Without action by Congress, both the payroll tax cut and a program for long-term unemployment benefits will expire on Jan. 1.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said lawmakers would not let the tax increase kick in but he did not say how they would resolve the dispute.

The leaders’ comments came after a chaotic weekend in which Senate leaders first failed to agree on a full-year bill, then coalesced around the two-month-extension that passed overwhelmingly, only to spark a revolt among GOP conservatives in the House.

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