Will the 2% payroll tax increase come soon?  Speaker of the
House U.S. Rep. John Boehner answers reporters' questions during
a brief news conference on the payroll tax vote in Washington,
DC.  Jeremy Hobson: Now to the House of Representatives, which
today will tackle the issue of whether to extend the payroll tax
cut. This is the tax reduction that allowed the average American
family to keep about $1,000 extra this year. It was billed as
economic stimulus.  Well over the weekend, the Senate gave
bipartisan approval to a two month extension of the tax cut. But
now House Republicans say they're not going to pass that
extension, and they're going to start working on their own bill.
For more, let's bring in our regular Monday guest Julia
Coronado. She is chief economist with the investment bank BNP
Paribas, and she's with us live this morning from Washington.
Good morning, Julia.  Julia Coronado: Good morning.  Hobson: So
obviously, there are some political calculations going on here.
But what's at stake econom