Sen. John Cornyn (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
Still itching for a fight, some congressional Republicans want to take the December debacle of their resistance to middle class tax cuts, and anything that might help the economy and thus President Obama's reelection, well into this year, while others recognize the PR disaster that would mean for them. In other words, it's
Republicans in disarray.
So eager are some Republicans to keep the tax-cutting mantle during an election year that they’re willing to vote for a plan they vehemently oppose.
“I think the election needs to be about President Obama, his policies and his economy and his enablers, obviously,” said Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a member of Republican leadership who in December opposed the Senate GOP’s yearlong tax cut extensions. “He’s going to try to make it about Congress—so I’m for removing any distraction that we can and keeping the focus on his economy and his policies and his enablers.” [...]
Challenges will be most acute in the House, where Republicans are still reeling from the December payroll tax debacle. [...]
GOP leaders may be forced to deal with another potential mutiny this time around.
“Our marketplace needs certainty,” Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) said. “Tax holidays just are bad policy. A year is pretty short. One of the things we had in our Pledge to America is the need for certainty. People can’t make business decisions about jobs and hiring unless there’s certainty.”
It's bad policy, you see, that hurts Social Security. Because if Republicans care about anything, it's about keeping Social Security strong (cough, cough). And note Chaffetz's concern for the "job creators." He doesn't want any uncertainty for the people who have to make hiring decisions, but couldn't give a damn about the uncertainty of actual workers, the people getting those paychecks that may or may not be cut next month.
Cornyn, who's head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the organ of the party that's supposed to to help Republicans win and keep Senate seats, has an inkling of just how effective a campaign against Republicans would be, if they keep fighting to protect millionaires from higher taxes while blocking a break for working families. Even Cornyn is smart enough to grasp how bad the optics are in that one. Once again, they have a House full of nihilists to try to convince.