Charles Krauthammer posted an article today at National Review about the bill passed yesterday in Congress allowing a 60-day tax break for Americans. First of all, it is not a tax break–it is a raid on Social Security at a time when Social Security can least afford to be raided. Second of all, no sane government sets a two-month tax policy.
The Republicans had the right argument on principle–the tax cut needed to be for the full year, but they lost on the politics. The reason they lost on the politics is that most Americans were paying more attention to their Christmas shopping than to what was actually happening in Congress, and when the media (and the Democrats) told them that the Republicans were holding up their tax break, they believed it.
Dr. Krauthammer states:
To begin with, what even minimally rational government enacts payroll-tax relief for just two months? As a matter of practicality alone, it makes no sense. The National Payroll Reporting Consortium, representing those who process paychecks, said of the two-month extension passed by the Senate just days before the new year: “There is insufficient lead time to accommodate the proposal,” because “many payroll systems are not likely to be able to make such a substantial programming change before January or even February,” thereby “creat[ing] substantial problems, confusion and costs.”
He further states:
The House Republicans’ initial rejection of this two-month extension was therefore correct on principle and on policy. But this was absolutely the wrong place, the wrong time, to plant the flag. Once Senate Republicans overwhelmingly backed the temporary extension, that part of the fight was lost. Opposing it became kamikaze politics.
The responsibility for this debaucle ultimately rests with the American people (and the fact that the media was failing to report both sides of the story). If we have truly reached a point in our history when we are tired of politics as usual, then we need to be willing to do something about it. We need to pay enough attention so that politics cannot trump good policy. Until that happens, we will get more of the same.
