GOP shifts away from payroll tax cut

[pampango]

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2011/09/26/gop_shifts_away_from_payroll_tax_cut/

The one-sided ovation during Obama’s Sept. 8 speech pitching his $447 billion jobs plan came after the president proposed extending last year’s payroll tax cut, an idea that had once garnered bipartisan support but this year has received a tepid reception from many Republicans.

House Speaker John A. Boehner has hinted the GOP should keep an open mind on the payroll tax part of the overall plan. Others in his party, however, have questioned its effectiveness and timing or criticized its temporary nature in rejecting out of hand a proposal they once embraced.

Some observers attribute such a change of heart not to questions of its economic efficacy but to politics.

“What has changed about the idea? Nothing, really,’’ said Richard K. Kaplan, a tax law professor at the University of Illinois. What has changed, he said, is a Congress that is more polarized and vituperative, with an upcoming election prompting Republicans to oppose any proposal that might boost Obama. “It’s not much more sophisticated than ‘I’m against it, because he’s for it,’" Kaplan said.

[dkf]

1. The latest proposal wasn't meant to engender a spirit of cooperation.

Obama said "screw you" to the Republixans and now they have reciprocated.

[TheKentuckian]

2. Yeah, free trade agreements, tax cuts for business, and a payroll tax break

That spells "screw you" to the Republicans!

Not to mention how nice and cooperative they have been to this point.

[dkf]

3. It was a statement of Democratic political goals, not something designed to pass.

Anyone with half a brain knew it was DOA.

That is what made people here happy. It was set up to stir a fight.

[TheKentuckian]

4. Democratic policy goals are to defund Social Security, more free trade agreements,

and tax cuts for corporations?

What are the Republican policy aspirations?

Any proposal would be in the area of not expected to pass since this Chamber of Commerce plan is a pipe dream.