Congress has reached a tentative agreement on renewing a payroll tax cut. The cut saves the average worker around $20 a week. The tax cut would be extended to the end of the year, as well as jobless benefits for long-term unemployed workers. The estimated costs of the tax cut and unemployment extension are around $130 billion. Part of this would be paid for through a wireless spectrum auction and increased pension contributions from federal workers. The President has said that he will sign the tax cut and unemployment extension as soon as he receives it.
See The Associated Press, Guardian Unlimited (UK), February 14, 2012