WASHINGTON -- With television lights glaring, 20 lawmakers will gather next week to revisit the fight that consumed Congress before Christmas over renewing a Social Security payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits.
With the House's fractious conservative wing balking until the very end, the fight made the GOP look like it was opposing the tax reduction -- which Democrats contrasted with Republican support for tax breaks for the wealthy. Most Republicans want this year's fight to end quickly so they can change the subject to their own efforts to cut taxes, federal spending and Obama administration regulations.