GOP Drops Demand For Offsetting Payroll Tax Cut

[ProSense]

GOP Drops Demand For Offsetting Payroll Tax Cut

Brian Beutler

Facing emboldened Democratic negotiators and a thin calendar, House Republican leaders have offered to extend the payroll tax holiday through the end of the year without paying for it.

“Because the president and Senate Democratic leaders have not allowed their conferees to support a responsible bipartisan agreement, today House Republicans will introduce a backup plan that would simply extend the payroll tax holiday for the remainder of the year while the conference negotiations continue regarding offsets, unemployment insurance, and the ‘doc fix,’” said GOP leaders in an official statement Monday afternoon.

The development represents the GOP’s concession to legislative and political reality.

Republicans are poised to become the face of a middle class tax increase if the holiday expires. Democrats, aware they hold the upper hand, have refused to finance the tax cuts on GOP terms. That’s left Republicans with three bad options: pay for the payroll cut at least in part by raising taxes on wealthy people or corporations; pay for the cut using budgeting techniques Republican rank and file members abhor; or don’t pay for them at all.

Given the GOP’s long-standing view that tax cuts for high-income earners need no offsets, they ultimately settled on option three.

- more -

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/02/gop-drops-demand-for-offsetting-payroll-tax-cut.php?ref=fpa

To mock a RW hack: Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaave!

[1ProudAtheist]

1. Boner

and KKKantor are sucking on a persimmon milkshake about now.

[Owlet]

2. Could become a Pyrrhic victory

if this.... "Given the GOP’s long-standing view that tax cuts for high-income earners need no offsets, they ultimately settled on option three. " .... becomes the argument they use further down to road to extend the Bush tax cuts.

[Lasher]

3. Would the general fund make up for the resulting shortfall in the trust funds?

Or would the Social Security and Medicare trust funds be diminished by the decreased revenue? The article doesn't say.

[Big Blue Marble]

4. Doesn't the General Fund fund it's overage with funds from SS?

I think it is all a shell game. They are all playing with our futures and do not plan to
be around when it all comes due.

[Lasher]

9. Yes, the general fund has borrowed from the trust funds for decades.

And the general fund is obliged to pay back what it's borrowed, plus interest.

But this is a different issue. The general fund has reimbursed the trust funds for their losses brought about by recent payroll tax cuts. I want to know if this new payroll tax cut is to be the same in this respect, or if it will come at the expense of the trust funds.

[unblock]

5. the general fund makes up the difference.

[Lasher]

10. How do you know this?

[unblock]

11. heard it on cnbc, but more important, it would have been allll over the news otherwise.

the previous payroll tax break was covered by general funds, and the republican "caving" would not have been portrayed as such if they were removing the bit about the general funds covering the tax break.

[unblock]

6. given a choice, republicans opt to increase the deficit.

their ideology is all about lower taxes for the rich.

they opposed the lower taxes for the poor and middle class
and they opposed paying for it.

they don't really care about the deficit:they're interested only in lower taxes for the rich; to hell with anything or anyone else.

[Scurrilous]

7. Thanks.

K & R

[Lil Missy]

8. I hope Dems make them eat the WHOLE THING, inluding

as well the offsets, unemployment, and "doc fix", AND pay for it in part by raising tax rates on the wealthy.

That is EXACTLY how they would do it if positions were reversed.