Sam Stein at HuffPost:
With the payroll tax cut set to expire at the end of 2011, the White House is increasingly looking to the lead-up to the year-end holiday recess as the make-or-break moment for the policy's future. While the Senate's adjournment date is not yet determined, the House of Representatives is eyeing a Dec. 8 end to the legislative calendar. Both adjournments will likely be pushed back as lawmakers weigh a host of other legislative matters before heading back to their districts.
"I find it hard to believe that these members of Congress are going to go to National Airport on December 23 and go home, and basically tell their constituents your taxes are going up $1,000 next year and we didn't do anything to help the economy," said one administration official.
It's not a bad idea. It's a great idea, in fact. And many of us already proposed it, last year when we were debating the same issue, along with an extension of unemployment benefits. I say the GOP was bluffing last year. They had no intention of taking money out of the pockets of millions of Americans only days before Christmas. And had they tried, facing an onslaught of negative press and constituent anger, it would have been the first and last time the GOP tried to hold Americans hostage to the fringe Tea Party agenda. So, while I'm glad folks are finally adopting this strategy, we need to keep in mind that last time our guys blinked. They need to convince the Rs that this time we're not bluffing, and we shouldn't bluff. Let the Republicans hang themselves. They're only going to do it once.
