When the Wall Street Journal Editorial slams the GOP for their payroll tax cut debacle then we all know that the writing is on the wall.
I wouldn't be surprised if in the next 72 hours the House Republicans relent making some excuse up so that they will let the House vote on the Senate bill so that it passes and then they go home for the holidays.
http://online.wsj.com/...
The White House, Senate Democrats, Senate Republicans, and House Democrats are united. They all know that the House Republicans have screwed this up and that sooner or later the House Republicans are going to have to swallow hard and let the House vote on the Senate bill so that it passes and 160 million
Americans' payroll taxes do not go up on January 1st.
When the Wall Street Journal writes an Editorial stating that the GOP really screwed up here in a big way so much so that it may end up re-electing Obama and causing an all Democratic Congress and White House in 2012, you know that the House GOP knows that they have lost the message war BIG TIME.
GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell famously said a year ago that his main task in the 112th Congress was to make sure that President Obama would not be re-elected. Given how he and House Speaker John Boehner have handled the payroll tax debate, we wonder if they might end up re-electing the President before the 2012 campaign even begins in earnest.
The Republicans have allowed President Obama to become the champion of middle class tax cuts.
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. This is no easy double play.
Republicans have also achieved the small miracle of letting Mr. Obama position himself as an election-year tax cutter, although he's spent most of his Presidency promoting tax increases and he would hit the economy with one of the largest tax increases ever in 2013. This should be impossible.
Democrats and President Obama have blinked so many times that Republicans think that they will blink again. The Wall Street Journal Editorial says that not this time. The Democrats are having too much fun so to speak and President Obama could make this debacle the center piece of his State of the Union.
Senate Republicans say Mr. Boehner had signed off on the two-month extension, but House Members revolted over the weekend and so the Speaker flipped within 24 hours. Mr. Boehner is now demanding that Mr. Reid name conferees for a House-Senate conference on the payroll tax bills. But Mr. Reid and the White House are having too much fun blaming Republicans for "raising taxes on the middle class" as of January 1. Don't be surprised if they stretch this out to the State of the Union, when Mr. Obama will have a national audience to capture the tax issue.
The Wall Street Journal has pointed out that by not passing the Senate bill quickly which would have kept the media's focus on the Dem/Obama cave on the Keystone pipeline, the press is now focusing on the House not allowing and up or down vote on the Senate bill which may cause everybody's taxes to go up. Talk about snatching DEFEAT from the jaws of VICTORY.
Or agree on a strategy to get something in return for passing it, which would mean focusing on a couple of popular policies that would put Mr. Obama and Democrats on the political spot. They finally did that last week by attaching a provision that requires Mr. Obama to make a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline within 60 days, and the President grumbled but has agreed to sign it.
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.
The Wall Street Journals Editorial's recommendation for House Republicans is to swallow hard, cut your losses, pass the Senate bill, and live to fight another day or the 2012 election will become a route for Democrats.
At this stage, Republicans would do best to cut their losses and find a way to extend the payroll holiday quickly. Then go home and return in January with a united House-Senate strategy that forces Democrats to make specific policy choices that highlight the differences between the parties on spending, taxes and regulation. Wisconsin freshman Senator Ron Johnson has been floating a useful agenda for such a strategy. The alternative is more chaotic retreat and the return of all-Democratic rule.
Notice to Democrats and President Obama: This is what happens when you don't cave. You win.