Obama urges Congress to save payroll tax cut

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday U.S. lawmakers would have a chance to vote again next week to extend a payroll tax cut which, he said, would hurt the economy and employment if it were not extended into 2012.

"In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we are going to give them another chance," Obama said, referring to lawmakers in Congress and Thursday's U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.

"Next week they are going to get to take a simple vote. If they vote no again the typical family's taxes will go up $1,000 next year."

Obama made his pitch in New Hampshire, where his potential Republican presidential rivals in the 2012 presidential election are campaigning ahead of a party primary contest in early January.

A senior Democratic aide said plans were being made to debate the measure in the Senate in early December and possibly as soon as next week.

While the details were still being worked on, Democrats could attempt to pay for extending the tax cut by raising taxes on the wealthy. Republicans have blocked that idea in the past and likely would do so again.

In that event, the payroll tax cut extension could come up again in an end-of-year, catch-all bill to fund many government programs through next September, the end of the current fiscal year.

(Reporting by Alister Bull; Writing by Jeff Mason; Editing by Vicki Allen)