This is hilarious:
Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) said Thursday that House Republicans might be willing to look at a three-month extension of the payroll tax holiday as a compromise.
“If they [the Senate] went to three months and did the first quarter, we might have made sense of that,” Camp, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “If we can’t do a year, at least do a quarter, something that matches up with what employers have to report.”
First things first, the whole point of two month extension isn't that the Senate merely wants to extend the payroll tax cut for two months—it's to make sure there tax cut continues while the House and Senate work out their differences on how to pay for the full year tax cut (as well as other issues like unemployment insurance). So debating two versus three months is pointless, and the only reason Camp is to let Republicans save face. I guess they think it would be embarrassing to vote for two months, but not three—as if they haven't embarrassed themselves enough already.
That'd be funny enough, but it gets better, because it appears that Camp is trying to set the stage for Speaker Boehner to beg for mercy. Check this out:
President Barack Obama, congressional Democrats, and many Republicans both in and outside Congress have called on House Republicans to pass the Senate’s version of the payroll tax cut extension, which lasts for two months. But in his statement, Boehner will note that while because businesses send in their taxes every three months, the result could be “more burdensome” and “costly” for employers.
“In fact, non-partisan payroll tax experts have told us that a two-month extension is ‘unworkable,’ and “could create substantial problems, confusion and costs affecting a significant percentage of U.S. employers and employees,’” Boehner plans to say. “As a result of the Senate bill’s approach, many workers won’t even see their tax cut in January. We can do better. People expect us to do better.”
"Do better"? Uh ... talking about two versus three months as a serious policy issue doesn't qualify as doing better. Again, the whole idea here is that the payroll tax cut must be extended for a full year, but because House Republicans have thus far refused to pass such an extension without including poison pills, the Senate was forced to pass a short-term fix to make sure the tax cut didn't expire.
Even if three months were a tiny bit better than two months, it would be a disaster Congress can't extend the payroll tax cut for a full year. Boehner may think he's trying to save face, but he's actually just deepening the humiliation of House Republicans with this silly gambit. He should pass the Senate's bipartisan two month extension, and then quickly get down to business on reaching a deal to extend the tax cut for the full year. Engaging in brinksmanship over the duration of a short-term extension is shows appallingly bad judgment.
But it does make for great comedy.
