Payroll tax deal a $20-a-week benefit

By Bobby Caina Calvan

Globe Staff / February 18, 2012

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For all the wrangling over extending a $100 billion payroll tax holiday, it comes down to this for the 160 million employed Americans caught in the Capitol Hill gridlock: $40, on average, every two weeks. That’s the amount the average worker can continue pocketing in disposable income if Congress approves a deal to extend the temporary tax cut. It’s a seemingly paltry amount, but Democrats hope for big election-year dividends in winning support from the country’s middle class.

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