House Republicans caved to President Barack Obama’s demand for a two-month payroll tax cut extension, ending an impasse that threatened to raise taxes on millions of Americans on Jan. 1. 
 
 The capitulation came fast Thursday afternoon as House Republicans found themselves increasingly isolated in insisting that a full one-year extension was the only solution to the year-end crisis. The end of this debate will also come quickly — the House and Senate hope to clear the $33 billion legislation on a voice vote Friday morning. 
 
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 reset Boehner on the payroll tax deal Camp pitches 3 month extension 
 
 In announcing the deal Thursday evening, Speaker John Boehner said Republicans had won new provisions that would protect businesses from certain payroll reporting requirements. Republicans also got Democrats to agree to accelerate the meeting of a joint House-Senate conference committee to negotiate a full-year deal. 
 
 “It may not have been politically the smartest thing in the world, but let me tell you what: I think our members waged a good fight. We were able to come to an agreement. We were able to fix what came out of the Senate,” Boehner told reporters. 
 
 The speaker said he didn’t know whether any lawmaker would object but was prepared to call the House back into session next week to pass the bill. Boehner broke the news to his rank and file on a late afternoon conference call that lasted about eight minutes, in which no open mic session was held so no questions could be asked, sources said. 
 
 The pre-Christmas breakthrough marks a major moment in Obama’s relationship with the Republican House — Obama had come under fire from Democrats for conceding too much too soon throughout the year, but on this deal he’s getting exactly what he wants. 
 
 “This is good news, just in time for the holidays,” Obama said in a statement, noting that the tax cut would work out to about $1,000 for the average household. “This is the right thing to do to strengthen our families, grow our economy, and create new jobs. This is real money that will make a real difference in people’s lives.” 
 
 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) warned that two months was not much time for negotiators to work out a yearlong deal but praised Republicans for agreeing to a short-term extension. 
 
 “I am grateful that the voices of reason have prevailed and Speaker Boehner has agreed to pass the Senate’s bipartisan compromise,” Reid said in a statement. 
 
 The news of a major concession by House Republicans came amid strong signals that all sides were looking for an exit strategy that would prevent a tax hike on 160 million working Americans, a termination of some unemployment benefits and a 27.4 percent cut in Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors. 
 
 Obama, who had been turning up public pressure on the House to pass the Senate bill, said earlier Thursday that the House “needs to pass a short-term version of this compromise” — phrasing that matched Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s in leaving room for House Republicans to send a tweaked version back to the Senate. And two freshman House Republicans in swing districts, Reps. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) and Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) caved on Thursday, calling on their colleagues to give in. ||||| Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) said Thursday that House Republicans might be willing to look at a three-month extension of the payroll tax holiday as a compromise. 
 
 “If they [the Senate] went to three months and did the first quarter, we might have made sense of that,” Camp, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “If we can’t do a year, at least do a quarter, something that matches up with what employers have to report.” 
 
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 reset Camp: ‘Two months is ridiculous’ 
 
 Camp, a conferee assigned to work out the differences between the House and Senate, said he had been hearing from outside groups that a three-month extension would be less burdensome than a two-month extension. 
 
 “We’re hearing from employers that not matching up with the quarterly reporting that they’re required to do with the government is going to cause them a tremendous burden and difficulty — that it makes it harder to meet payroll,” Camp said. 
 
 Camp said his preference is for a year-long extension. 
 
 “Two months is just ridiculous. What we really need to do is a year fix, give some certainty to the economy,” Camp said. “We need the Senate to come back and join us in a conference, and we could resolve this in a business-like way.” 
 
 Later in the day, Camp’s office insisted that he was not making an offer or floating an idea. 
 
 “The chairman was offering an example of why the Senate bill does not work, which is what we are hearing from employers all across the country. We need to get this right so we can help get Americans back to work,” said Camp spokesperson Michelle Dimarob. 
 
 On CNBC, Camp also said that he had heard “no evidence” that Speaker John Boehner had originally signed off on a two-month deal but changed his mind after the House Republican Conference pushed back. “It’s not about any one person or personality,” Camp said.
– The theme of the day is compromise—at least, politicians offering their ideas about what a compromise should look like, without deciding to actually compromise. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell came out with one of his own, in what Politico describes as "a blow to House Republicans." McConnell's idea: House Republicans OK the Senate's two-month extension, and at the same time, Senate Democrats appoint negotiators who will work to make the full-year extension a reality. "We can and should do both." His comments come on the heels of some other notables: Some 30 minutes before McConnell presented his idea, John Boehner presented his idea ... which hasn't changed. He wants a one-year extension. "The fact is, we can do better," he told reporters. "It’s time for us to sit down and have a serious negotiation and solve this problem so that American workers don’t see their taxes go up in January." GOP Rep. Dave Camp (notable in that he's one of the eight conferees Boehner picked to work things out with Dems) suggested a 90-day extension on CNBC this morning, reports Politico. "If we can’t do a year, at least do a quarter, something that matches up with what employers have to report," he said. "We’re hearing from employers that not matching up with the quarterly reporting that they’re required to do is going to cause them a tremendous burden and difficulty." Of course, what he really wants is for "the Senate to come back and join us in a conference."