Payroll Tax Cut War of Words

GOP blunts WH opposition to House-passed package; Reid says bill DOA in Senate.

EARLIER: Bill clears lower chamber 234-193; 10 Dems in favor.

WH reacts: "Congress should not finish their business before finishing the business of the American people. They cannot go on vacation before agreeing to prevent a tax hike on 160 million Americans and extending unemployment insurance.

Boehner: "Now the Democrats who run Washington have a responsibility to act...The Democrats who run the Senate can’t continue to shirk their responsibility to govern. The American people are waiting on them."

Reid: ""It was dead before it got to the Senate...The Senate will not pass it. The sooner we demonstrate that, the sooner we can begin serious discussions on how to keep taxes from going up on middle-class Americans."