Geo World

Obama threatens to veto Republican tax bill

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama Tuesday threatened to veto a Republican bill that would offer a payroll tax cut extension he has demanded, but force him to back a US pipeline project he has rejected.

Obama's move deepened a year-end showdown with Republicans that is threatening to disrupt Christmas holiday plans and even shutter the government, as a crucial omnibus spending plan is caught up in the logjam.

His office of Management and Budget said the bill expected to be passed Tuesday by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives should have been about finding a balanced approach that could pass both chambers of Congress.

Instead, the office said in a statement, the bill "represents a choice to re-fight old political battles over health care and introduce ideological issues into what should be a simple debate about cutting taxes for the middle class."

Republicans say the legislation, which is expected to fail in the Democratic-led Senate, will create thousands of new jobs, extend a payroll tax cut and offset the cost of extending the payroll tax cut with spending cuts. (AFP)