In this week before Christmas, Congress did something that many of us can relate to this time of year... Much like how you leave all your holiday shopping until the last minute, and end up forgetting half of the stuff you were supposed to do, Congress did the same thing. They stayed over for a whole day and passed the continuation of the Payroll Tax Cut, along with the XL Pipeline deal - but the deal is only for two months. Feel safe? Neither do we....
Yeah, instead of maybe spending a couple days, or - here's an idea - they started working on a long-term plan a while ago, we would actually have a permanent deal for Social Security funding and tax relief - all in one shot. No, they decided to take a task that you could check off for good, and make it like taking out the trash: something you do every week... They Kicked the Can.
On the surface, passing this was better than doing nothing, so we'll give them a modicum of credit for that. That's about it. 160 million citizens will avoid a tax hike, and Barack Obama now has the XL Pipeline thrown on his lap, which he really needs to OK. His excuses for waiting to make a decision were weak. Now he is tied to it, or will raise taxes if he vetoes it.
Congress got something done, though not much. They might have been able to fix three issues in one fell swoop, but it'll be back soon, unless someone in the back continues to work on it, which we doubt. It's always done last minute in DC. Before we know, some DC staffer's Blackberry will blow up with a reminder that the Payroll Tax hike is coming up - again. Our guess is that's when Congress will think about it again. Then they'll kick the can a little further. Sad....
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