@Bob Huckaby, the Democrats wanted a one-year bill, but the Republicans refused to allow a vote on it in the Senate because it didn't include the poison pill provisions that had NOTHING to do with the payroll tax cut. The two-month extension was a bipartisan agreement that had Boehner's approval...until the Senate actually passed it. You can thank the Tea Party Caucus, John Boehner and Mitch McConnell for this year-end mess, not the Democrats. The Tea Party caucus has already done untold harm to America's standing and credit rating, not to mention the damage done to millions of Americans held hostage to their fanatical ideology.