President Obama urged Congress to extend the payroll tax cut without "drama" or "delay," saying in his weekly address that now is not the time for "self-inflicted wounds to our recovery."

"At the end of the month, taxes are set to go up on 160 million working Americans," he said. "If you're one of them, then you know better than anyone that the last thing you need right now is a tax hike. But if Congress refuses to act, middle class taxes will go up. It's that simple."

The president asked lawmakers not to put the American people through the same "bickering" and "political posturing" that occurred when Congress faced the same predicament last December.

"Congress needs to stop this middle class tax hike from happening. Period," he said. "And no ideological side issues that have nothing to do with this tax cut. Now is not the time for self-inflicted wounds to our recovery. Now is the time for common-sense action."