USA Today: President Obama's aides are seeking to pressure House Republicans in the hours leading up to a vote tonight on a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut, saying an adverse decision will subject nearly 160 million Americans to a tax hike next year. "The House needs to act, or else Americans are going to have their taxes go up," said White House spokesman Jay Carney, by an average of about $1,000 per year per family -- and he made clear the White House would blame the Republicans as the nation approaches the 2012 election year.