Ezra Klein makes some phone calls:
I’ve asked a number of Republican offices whether they’d be willing to work with the Democrats on a payroll-tax holiday. Without fail, they’ve told me no, that they no longer support a payroll-tax holiday given the size of the deficit.
The scale of the cynicism here is pretty spectacular. Republicans don’t support payroll tax cuts because it would increase the deficit, but they do support extending Bush’s tax cuts on the rich because, you know, cutting taxes is really important during a recession. The effect on the deficit, needless to say, is about the same for both proposals.
Are there any Republican economic policies left that aren’t just thin covers for handing out goodies to corporations and the rich? Even just one or two for show? Not that I can think of. And they all come packaged with a well-honed and well-rehearsed intellectual superstructure that’s carefully designed to keep the chumps from figuring things out and to keep liberals like me busy arguing over ephemera. Where are the pitchforks when you need them?
