There is broad agreement on doing the payroll tax holiday through the end of the year … The problem is paying for it. … (Democrats) just don’t want to cut any spending. That is what made it problematic. But we will get it done. We will get it done before the end of February.Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell • Emphasizing that the payroll tax cuts that proved a thorn in the GOP’s side back around Christmas will get extended through the new year, no matter how many arms McConnell has to twist. The thing is, though, he’s not the guy who has to do the hard work. It’s Boehner in the House, who pissed off his rightward-leaning members by ignoring their wishes to score a deal. However, even Boehner is confident: “I’m confident that we’ll be able to resolve this fairly quickly,” he said. The tax cuts expire at the end of February, but there’s no word on how they plan to pay for this. source (via • follow)
Boehner also felt pressure outside his caucus to not listen to his caucus, because they were about to hand Obama the election. All sorts of pundits have been saying this. For example, Karl Rove: “I think the speaker retains the enthusiastic support of the vast majority of the people in his caucus. And the people who … in the last couple of days who have been upset with him are in no place to mount any kind of a coup or a leadership attempt.” Protip, John: Listen to Karl Rove.
The GOP lost one. The tell-tale signs were everywhere. On a day where John Boehner lost support from the GOP establishment on blocking a payroll tax-cut plan — which mind you, was just for two months, and otherwise would’ve been a big GOP victory because of the Democratic concessions made — the political kayfabe finally gave way to inevitability. Here’s how it went down. (Photo by Gage Skidmore, that guy who takes all the GOP politician photos on Flickr)
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That’s what he says in a new op-ed column: ”The GOP leaders have somehow managed the remarkable feat of being blamed for opposing a one-year extension of a tax holiday that they are surely going to pass,” he writes. “This is no easy double play.” He also suggests that Republicans in Congress might have helped hand Obama an early 2012 victory. When you’ve lost Rove, you know you’ve messed up pretty badly. source
In case you wanted an excuse to rip out your hair this morning, here you go: House Republicans balked on the Senate’s payroll tax-cut extension, which passed their chamber without issue on Friday but now is suddenly the target of 11th hour drama in the House. The Senate’s already gone home, so re-herding the cats would be very tough at this point. But on the other hand, Democrats can easily pin the blame for this one. Anyway, House Republicans: Do you guys not know the definition of “Christmas”?
» Those who refinance will feel the pinch, too: To help pay for the $33 billion cost of the extended-by-two-months payroll tax cut, the federal government will increase the cost for homeowners to get their homes insured by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who currently back nine out of ten home mortgages in the U.S. The fee, currently around 0.3 percentage points, would jump by 0.1 percentage points, which translates to roughly $17 per month for most homeowners. However, this fee would not affect current homeowners unless they refinance starting next year. Is this the best way to handle the extension?
While this agreement is for two months, it is my expectation — in fact it would be inexcusable for Congress not to further extend this middle-class tax cut for the rest of the year. It should be a formality. And hopefully it’s done with as little drama as possible when they get back in January.President Obama • In remarks after the Senate passed a two-month-long extension to the payroll tax cuts. While he’s still annoyed by the fact that tax increases for the wealthy aren’t connected with the bill, “I think that it’s important for us to get it done,” he claimed. Think that further extensions will happen without said drama? Or is the president dreaming? The House will take a final stab at the bill on Monday. source (via • follow)
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Mitt Romney on payroll tax cut: Despite the fact that he supports it, he says “this is a band-aid.” Not long after, he got his first rip of the night: “Being hands on in the economy is working on his golf grip.”
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