Pryor taps social media for town hall meeting

U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., announced Monday (Dec. 3) he will host his first-ever Twitter Town Hall at 1:30 pm., Thursday, Dec. 6.

Pryor will take questions from Arkansans on the looming fiscal cliff issue being heavily debated on Capitol Hill ahead of the holiday break scheduled later this month.

The fiscal cliff relates to the terms of the Budget Control Act of 2011 which are scheduled to go into effect at the end of 2012.

Among the laws set to change at midnight on Dec. 31 are the end of last year’s temporary payroll tax cuts (resulting in a 2% tax increase for workers), the end of certain tax breaks for businesses, shifts in the alternative minimum tax that would take a larger bite, the end of the tax cuts from 2001-2003, and the beginning of taxes related to President Obama’s health care law.

At the same time, the spending cuts agreed upon as part of the debt ceiling deal of 2011 will begin to go into effect. According to Barron's, over 1,000 government programs – including the defense budget and Medicare are in line for "deep, automatic cuts."

To participate in the Twitter Town Hall with Pryor follow him @senmarkpryor. Participants are asked to tweet their questions with the following hashtag #AskPryor.