Dec 22, 2011

More Reviews Are In: Outrage at House Republicans Raising Taxes on Middle Income Taxpayers

Overnight, another round of Editorials blasted House Republicans for forcing a $1,000 tax hike on 160 million middle income Americans come January 1st.

Take a look for yourself.

*New* House Republicans pick party over nation [St. Petersburg Times]
“If your taxes go up 10 days from now, you will know whom to blame: U.S. House Republicans, including all of those in Florida and Tampa Bay. They are the ones who failed to support bipartisan legislation to extend the payroll tax cut that was overwhelmingly approved by the Senate. They are the ones who rejected an extension of long-term unemployment benefits for 3 million Americans. And they are the ones who should be held accountable in the next election for their callous indifference to the needs of their constituents.” [St. Petersburg Times Editorial, 12/22/11]

*New* House Republicans show they favor wealthy over middle class [Star Ledger]
“At its core, the Republican argument on the payroll tax is maddeningly hypocritical. They insist on preserving the Bush tax cuts, which reserve most benefits for the rich, without compensating spending cuts. But they will not tolerate a payroll tax cut, which mainly benefits the middle class, unless every dime is paid for with spending cuts. The party’s bias in favor of the rich has never been more obvious.” [Star Ledger Editorial, 12/22/11]

*New* House Republicans should pass payroll tax cut [San Francisco Chronicle]
“The gridlock on Capitol Hill is about to hit your pocketbook. Unless House Republicans back down from their resistance to a bipartisan compromise, the deduction on your paycheck for the Social Security trust fund will rise two full percentage points, to 6.2 percent, on Jan. 1. […] Even some prominent Republicans are losing patience with their recalcitrant brethren in the House of Representatives. ‘Of all the ugly partisanship that has disappointed the nation this year, this latest episode will hurt hard-working Americans directly and immediately,’ Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., said in a statement.” [San Francisco Chronicle Editorial, 12/22/11]

*New* Dysfunction in the House [LA Times]
“A dysfunctional organization is one that cannot do what it says it wants to do, even though it is clearly capable of doing it. […] If House Republicans weren't sold on renewing the expiring provisions, they should have debated those issues on the floor. But most lawmakers accepted the argument that the economy isn't strong enough yet to raise taxes on employees by about $120 billion and eliminate some $44 billion in unemployment benefits. House Republicans contend that a two-month payroll tax extension will cause more confusion than threatening not to extend the tax cut at all, but that's just absurd. The House's decision to reject the bill was petulant and politically toxic. We've said it before, but it's worth saying again: The House should approve the Senate compromise and go home.” [LA Times Editorial, 12/22/11]

*New* Farce and tragedy attend Congress's 'work' on payroll tax cut extension [The Plain Dealer]
“For a few hours last weekend, it looked as if our dysfunctional Congress was actually going to end the year with a rare bit of bipartisanship that would help millions of Americans by extending the payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits. But then House Republicans rebelled. The result is yet another stalemate that makes Congress look inept and out of touch.” [The Plain Dealer Editorial, 12/21/11]

*New* Happy holidays from Congress [The Oregonian]
House Republicans give Americans the gift of an empty political gesture  and potentially an ill-timed increase in their Social Security payroll taxes. […] House Republicans, naturally, refused to go along. And this time their loving embrace of brinkmanship backfired, leaving House Speaker John Boehner, Walden and other GOP leaders pretty much alone in Washington, pretending to offer to negotiate with empty chairs in a conference committee that existed only in their imaginations. […] this absurd flame-out on the payroll tax is brought to you by the House Republicans, who have managed, against incredible political odds, to position the president as the tax cutter and themselves as the cold, obstinate grinches prepared to raise taxes and shove 2 million people off unemployment.” [The Oregonian Editorial, 12/21/11]  

*New* House GOP's inaction could cripple U.S. recovery [Mercury News]
“It will be a cold start to the new year for 1.8 million Americans who are treading the waters of unemployment, struggling to meet the month's rent or mortgage. They could lose their life jackets because Republicans in the U.S. House blocked an extension of unemployment benefits. Many more U.S. workers, 160 million in all, could see their paychecks drop an average of $1,000 for the year because House Republicans wouldn't approve a bill to continue the temporary payroll tax cut. The failure to keep the tax cut and unemployment benefits in place is a blunder bordering on recklessness.” [Mercury News Editorial, 12/21/11]

*New* The best way to end the payroll tax standoff [Washington Post]
“The best solution at this point would be for embattled House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to back away from the cliff to which his rebellious caucus has driven him and to agree to the Senate bill in exchange for a promise from the Senate to return earlier than late January and have conferees work on a year-long extension. It is telling that the speaker, having promised a new, open House, refused to allow the Senate measure to come to the floor for an up-or-down vote, in which enough Republicans might have voted with Democrats to approve the measure.” [Washington Post Editorial, 12/21/11]

*New* Keep push for payroll tax cut [NY Journal News]
“House of Representatives. Rather than accept a compromise — one backed by virtually every member of the Senate — extending a payroll tax cut for two months, they opted for another round of brinkmanship, placing the economy recovery and every worker’s wallet in jeopardy. From a crew so often wringing its hands over “uncertainty” in the economy comes another heaping dose.” [NY Journal News Editorial, 12/21/11]

*New* Stand tough on payroll tax cut, Mr. President [Chicago Sun Times]
“Don’t give an inch, Mr. President. If the House fails to vote on a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut that keeps an extra $1,000 a year in the pocket of working people during hard times, the country will know who is to blame — extremist House Republicans. It is time for the tail to stop wagging the dog. […]To understand what’s really going on here, it’s important to pay attention to the rhetorical hypocrisy. House Republicans who oppose the bill say they favor a payroll tax cut extension, but want to see it done for a full year, not just for two months. They are being disingenuous, to put it politely, and hoping you’re naive enough to buy it.” [Chicago Sun Times Editorial, 12/21/11]

*New* GOP stands to lose in blocking payroll holiday [The Bakersfield Californian]
“It wouldn't be Christmas without a Grinch. And what else can we call House Republicans, whose actions this week will result in a tax increase for 160 million residents of Whoville come Jan. 1 More than a few Republicans in the U.S. Senate, which voted 89-10 to extend the tax cut, might agree with that characterization. And now even the conservative, no-friend-of-Democrats Wall Street Journal has taken the House GOP to task, faulting Congressional Republicans for failing to form a coherent strategy on the tax cut and suggesting they're actually abetting Obama's re-election bid. […]The Journal refutes House Republicans' argument that a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut will do no good. Republicans "say the short extension makes no economic sense, but then neither does a one-year extension. No employer is going to hire a worker based on such a small and temporary decrease in employment costs, as this year's tax holiday has demonstrated." [The Bakersfield Californian Editorial, 12/21/11]

*New* House GOP fails American workers [Star Tribune]
“House Republicans voted to test the patience of struggling lower- and middle-class Americans once again Tuesday by failing to accept a bipartisan Senate bill that would have extended payroll tax cuts and jobless benefits.[…] House GOP leaders deserve the blame for this latest Washington fiasco. Their political brinkmanship is so off the charts that even leading Senate Republicans are blasting them. ‘Their actions will hurt American families and be detrimental to our fragile economy,’ Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., rightly concluded.” [Star Tribune Editorial, 12/21/11]

*New* Boehner, House GOP stumble over tax-cut politics [Dallas Morning News]
“It’s stunning how Boehner and his House caucus so fumbled what was at worst a tie and possibly a victory on the question of extending the payroll tax cut. President Barack Obama deemed keeping the 2 percent reduction his top domestic priority, a $1,000-per-household present to potential voters in an election year. It put Republicans in the unusual position of surrendering to the president or being seen as the party that insisted on raising taxes. The truth is less precise, but perception is the key. In a down economy, it’s debatable whether the tax cut would stimulate much job growth, but it’s unquestionably a poor time to raise taxes on 160 million American workers.” [Dallas Morning News Editorial, 12/21/11]

The GOP's Payroll Tax Fiasco [Wall Street Journal]
“If Republicans didn’t want to extend the payroll tax cut on the merits, then they should have put together a strategy and the arguments for defeating it and explained why. […] But now Republicans are drowning out that victory in the sounds of their circular firing squad. Already four GOP Senators have rejected the House position, and the political rout will only get worse. […] At this stage, Republicans would do best to cut their losses and find a way to extend the payroll holiday quickly.” [Wall Street Journal Editorial, 12/21/11]

Putting Paychecks at Risk [New York Times]
“If the House had actually voted on Tuesday on the two-month extension of the payroll tax cut in the Senate’s bill, there is a chance that it would have passed. […] But the House refused to vote on the compromise. Instead, it voted on a piece of parliamentary trickery devised by Speaker John Boehner and his lieutenants to ensure the tax cut couldn’t possibly pass. […] As a result, it looks increasingly likely that the payroll tax cut will end on Jan. 1, along with extended unemployment insurance for three million jobless workers. In a year full of dangerous standoffs, led by extremist House members, this one may be the most intractable.” [New York Times Editorial, 12/21/11]

House divided -- and it's gridlock again [Newsday]
“As 2011 draws to a close, nobody knows whether the payroll tax holiday will continue for millions of Americans or if jobless benefits will end for millions more. While the public sweats economic stagnation and unemployment, Congress is going home for the holidays with those critical pieces of the public's business undone. But this time it's not partisan warfare that's to blame for Washington's tiresome dysfunction. The fault lies with congressional Republicans. They're at war with themselves.” [Newsday Editorial, 12/20/11]

Boehner's brinksmanship [Los Angeles Times]
“The House speaker objects to the Senate payroll tax compromise, but his complaints about it ring hollow. It's only fitting that House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) would close the year with one more act of brinksmanship. […] Considering how incapable Congress has been this year of smart long-term policymaking, Boehner's complaints about the short-term nature of the deal ring hollow, especially in light of the concessions the GOP won on the pipeline. His caucus seems addicted to crises, so it should come as no surprise that it would gin up another one instead of adjourning for the holidays.” [Los Angeles Times Editorial, 12/20/11]

Payroll tax: Congress opts for partisanship instead of what's best for Americans [Patriot-News]
“The art of legislation is to push your principles as far as you can while the other party pushes theirs. In the end, you get some — if not all — of what you want, and make certain it doesn’t violate your core values. In this case, House Republicans got nearly everything they want. They simply didn’t get it for as long as they want. And for this, they are willing to play brinkmanship or hit half of America with a tax increase.” [Patriot-News Editorial, 12/21/11]

GOP in a corner, opposing tax cut [Paris-Post Intelligencer]
“What’s odd is that the Social Security tax issue seems much like the argument over extending Bush-era income tax cuts for everyone. That has been a primary goal of the GOP, which has adamantly opposed Democratic efforts to end those tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Republicans now are demanding spending reductions elsewhere to offset the loss of revenue from the Social Security tax reduction. They didn’t do that for George W. Bush’s income tax cuts. […] The situation cries for our elected leaders to work together for a solution.” [Paris-Post Intelligencer Editorial, 12/20/11]

A tax-cut stalemate [The Register-Guard]
“House Speaker John Boehner and other GOP leaders should back off their ill-advised brinksmanship and insist that their unruly caucus support the Senate’s bipartisan deal for a stopgap extension of payroll tax cuts and jobless benefits. Ironically, Boehner originally agreed to the Senate deal, which had the backing of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Boehner reportedly urged his caucus to accept it, only to have tea party members and other hardline conservatives reject the short-term deal because they believed that the GOP should have wrung more concessions from Democrats. […] The speaker should order the Senate bill to the floor and House members, both Republicans and Democrats, should approve it to make sure the payroll tax cut and jobless benefits don’t lapse on Jan. 1.” [The Register-Guard Editorial, 12/21/11]

Crisis looms, politics persist [Commercial Appeal]
“The widening gap between members of Congress and ordinary Americans yawns some more in the current standoff in Washington over the proposed extension of the payroll tax cut […] Arkansas and Mississippi workers are taking home an estimated $800 million more in each state because of the cut, which if extended would save the average American family $1,000 next year. That is money that would go into working people's households to help fuel an economic recovery that is far from complete. It's money that members of both political parties and independents, as well, want to see in the hands of working people.  No one is against the idea. And yet the Republican-led House of Representatives continues to toy with the legislation -- and the emotions of anxious Americans -- by passing legislation with a veritable Christmas tree of riders designed to make ideological points.” [Commercial Appeal Editorial, 12/15/11]

The wealth gap [Charleston Gazette]
“A major issue in next year's presidential election is expected to be the worsening gap between the few wealthy Americans and the sinking middle class […] Republicans are firmly allied to the top elite - the 1 percent - and often scuttle Democratic efforts to aid the rest of society […] Meanwhile, million-dollar incomes of the rich few at the top keep doubling and redoubling. Republicans in Congress adamantly block Democratic efforts to collect more taxes from the privileged clique to help other Americans. This deserves to be a prime campaign issue next year.” [Charleston Gazette Editorial, 12/15/11]

No way to conduct people’s business [The Miami Herald]
“Congress should get rid of side issues and pass Social Security tax cut, unemployment benefits […] In the usual frenzy before the holidays, lawmakers in Washington have once again packed a variety of questionable proposals […] Tucked away in these measures under consideration as the clock ticks down toward year’s end are unrelated proposals, usually with an ideological component […] This is no way to conduct the people’s business […] If lawmakers want to get in the spirit of the season, they could hardly do better than to pass this legislation free of extraneous provisions and remind Americans that Congress is still capable of doing the right thing now and again.” [Miami Herald Editorial, 12/14/11]

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