Is the guy who nominated Sarah Palin for Vice President
really qualified to give advice like this? (Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)
If House Republicans continue blocking the payroll tax extension, 160 million Americans will see their taxes go up 10 days from now. But that's not what has John McCain
really worried:
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) echoed those concerns in an interview on CNN tonight, warning a resolution to the standoff must be found.
“It seems to me that Republican leaders and Harry Reid and the Speaker and Congresswoman [Nancy] Pelosi should sit down together with the administration and figure out a way through this,” the Arizona Republican said. “It is harming the Republican Party. It is harming the view, if it’s possible, any more of the American people about Congress. And we’ve got to get this thing resolved.”
Well, sure. House Republicans are making the Republican Party look bad. But let's be fair: it's not like Senate Republicans have done much better. Like their House counterparts, they've had at least four months to get their act together on the payroll tax extension, and the best they could do was agree to a two-month extension. And even though it's been clear for a long time that the House would be a problem, it's only now that you're only hearing tough words from guys like McCain.
The thing that really caught my attention here is that the thing McCain seems to be most worried about is the fate of the Republican Party. Sure, House Republicans are harming it. But if John McCain wants to talk about harming the Republican Party, I've got two words for him: Sarah Palin.
But whether John McCain or House Republicans have done or are doing more damage to the Republican Party isn't something that most people care about. What they care about is making sure that Congress doesn't raise their taxes while the economy is still in recovery. And if Republicans cared more about that, we wouldn't be facing this stalemate now. The American public would be better off, and so would the GOP.