Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


When it comes to the temporary Bush tax cuts on the rich, Republicans insist that allowing them to expire would be a tax increase that they’re flatly unwilling to even consider. However, when it comes to the temporary Obama payroll tax cut on the middle class, they say that letting it expire is OK. It’s not a tax increase in this case, and our looming budget deficit is so critical that we can’t afford to keep it in place. Steve Benen comments:

If I had to guess, I’d say Republicans probably support an extension of the payroll tax cut, but just aren’t willing to say so. Why not? Because then they lose leverage — GOP officials know the White House wants this, and if they simply agree to pass the measure, they won’t get anything extra out of the deal. Hostage strategies have become an instinctual norm for Republicans.

I think I’d take issue with this in two ways. First, I’m honestly not sure Republicans do support an extension of the payroll tax cut. Historically, their focus has always been on upper-income marginal rates, and they’ve never brought quite the same fervor to middle class levies like the payroll tax or the gasoline tax as they have to things like capital gains taxes and estate taxes. They’re just really, really focused on keeping taxes on the rich low.

But even if this is just a bargaining ploy, it’s not fair to call it a “hostage strategy.” In the case of the debt ceiling fight, that was appropriate language because Republicans were genuinely threatening fiscal Armageddon if they didn’t get their way. That’s hostage taking. The payroll tax debate, conversely, is just garden variety politics. Presidents and members of Congress have bargained over stuff like this forever, and it’s perfectly normal to play hardball in order to seek the strongest advantage for your own side. This is logrolling and dealmaking and favor trading, not hostage taking.

What’s more, it’s a good thing. Frankly, we could use a little more logrolling and dealmaking and favor trading, not less. The fact that Republicans these days are so unwilling to make compromises of any kind is a major cause of our current legislative paralysis. I’d like to see more of it, not less, no matter how shrewdly the game is played.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate