Middle Class Taxpayers Still Lose

The recent fight over the extension of the payroll tax holiday has once again shown that the Republican Party does not particularly care about the middle class tax burden. The party is quite interested though in cutting taxes on the highest earners. What gets completely ignored is the fact that …

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Written by Andrew Pavelyev on Thursday December 29, 2011

Brinkmanship Works

It seems that everyone is deploring the “tactics” of the House Republicans in refusing to pass a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut and by doing so, drawing out the standoff until the last minute. Is this the way resolve a dispute? Yes, deadlines force the combatants to make concessions…

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Written by Howard Foster on Wednesday December 21, 2011

How Dare The WSJ Blame The House GOP?

The Wall Street Journal this morning excoriates House Republicans for mishandling the payroll tax holiday: 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 …

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Written by David Frum on Wednesday December 21, 2011

Congressional Quagmire

The problem is bigger than the House of Representatives. The prior question is: why did the Senate adjourn having passed such a ridiculous thing as a two-month extension of the payroll tax holiday? It's the answer to that question that reveals the true dysfunction in Congress. The Senate …

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Written by David Frum on Tuesday December 20, 2011

The New Payroll Tax Strategy

House Republicans have made a bid to boldly reverse their public relations disadvantage as gridlock over the extension of the payroll tax holiday and other legislation vital to the economy continues. For the past month or more, Republicans had been scolded as the bastion of the rich and …

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Written by Steve Bell on Monday December 12, 2011

Debunking the Payroll Tax Cut Idea?

Over the past 2 years, I've banged the drum for a payroll tax cut as a way to put more money into workers' hands quickly and efficiently, arguing against most other forms of fiscal stimulus as too slow and unwieldy. Bruce Bartlett states the counter-case today in the New York Times : First, …

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Written by David Frum on Tuesday August 30, 2011