Senate passes payroll tax extension

The Senate passed legislation to extend a Social Security payroll tax cut and jobless benefits for just two months on Saturday.

The legislation brings a peaceful end to a year long battle over spending, passing a $1 trillion-plus year-end budget bill for Obama's signature. It wraps together the day-to-day budgets for 10 cabinet departments and military operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan. 

The move is considered a partial victory for President Barack Obama, but it sets the stage for another fight in February, Time Magazine reported. 

The bill had been passed by the House on Friday, and contains a provision demanded by Republicans that pressures the White House into approving the construction of the Keystone pipeline from Canada to Texas, that will promise thousands of jobs.

According to CBS News, both Democratic and Republican leaders opted for the short-term extension after they failed to agree on enough spending cuts to pay for a full-year renewal of the payroll tax cut. The 2 percentage point tax cut affects 160 million tax payers.

However, some are opposed to the two month extension:

“It makes no sense for two months to come back and fight the same fight we’ve been fighting for how long now,” said Senator Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat who opposed the extension, Bloomberg reported. “I feel very strongly that we need to stay here and fix things.”

However, others believed that the Democrats haven't lost any leverage by agreeing to a two-month extension or the pipeline language.  

“You want to talk about leverage?” Senator Robert Casey (D-PA) said, according to Bloomberg. “There are 160 million American workers who are depending upon people in both parties to make sure the payroll tax cut is in place for the entire year, and if you’re not in favor of that, I think you have a lot of explaining to do.”