McCain: Republican stance on payroll tax a mistake

[December 22, 2011]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. John McCain says Congress' failure to reach agreement on legislation extending a payroll tax cut for working Americans "hurts the Republican Party." The GOP's 2008 presidential nominee says his party made a mistake in voting down the Senate-passed version of a bill that would have kept the current payroll tax relief intact for at least two more months.

McCain tells CBS's "The Early Show" he feels badly for 160 million Americans, whom he called "innocent bystanders." He says the House should pass the same bill that cleared the Senate "but put a year on it" and send it back.

McCain says in the CBS interview, "This is really tragic for the American people, and I would say that next November, no incumbent is safe, nor should they be."

[Associated Press]

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