Which Party Owns the Payroll Tax Break?

Obama is using the payroll tax holiday to convince Dems they got the better end of the tax deal. Why won't the GOP more visibly own and take credit for the policy?

As David Frum wrote this morning, the GOP needs to reposition itself as the party of the payroll tax cut to prevent President Obama from running on that (popular) issue in 2012. Greg Sargent has recently come into possession of a White House slide which underscores why time may be running out for the GOP on this issue. The slide is being circulated to convince Democrats unhappy with the tax cut compromise (Obama may consider them "sanctimonious") that they in fact got the better end of the deal:

Notice something? The payroll tax holiday is in the Dem column ("What We Got"). If this was an issue that the GOP more visibly owned and could take credit for, it would not only be in the GOP column, it would also make them appear to be the winners by the metrics of this chart.

Obviously statistics can be used to make many different points (no doubt someone at Americans for Tax Reform can claim that the high income tax cuts have the greater stimulative effect) but the point remains, the payroll tax holiday is not one that the GOP should let the Democrats own.

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