Facts Behind The Payroll Tax "Holiday"

From Smart Girl Politics - a good analysis in brief:

Dissecting the Payroll Tax Holiday Opposition

Speaker Boehner and the House Republicans Opposition to the Senate Payroll Tax Bill

From: Alyssa Bonk, Policy Research Committee House Republicans have come under criticism today for their opposition to the Senate bill on the two-month extension of the payroll tax holiday enacted by President Obama last December. I issue this memo to you this month because some would have you believe there are Republicans who wish to prevent a tax cut for lower to middle income Americans in exchange for tax cuts for the rich, and that partisan politics have dictated this outcome.  This is not true. Those who oppose the extension are skeptical for the following reasons: 1.) Temporary tax cuts don't change long-term incentives, and therefore won't lead to the long-term economic growth sought through fundamental tax reform.[1]  This is an accepted truth by economic conservatives.  Once a tax cut expires, taxes go back up, thereby leaving us back where we started.  Moreover, there's been no hard evidence to suggest the payroll tax holiday has stimulated significant economic growth in the year it's been in place. 2)  Cost for Social Security.  Because payroll taxes fund the Social Security Trust Fund, another short-term tax holiday exacerbates the insolvency of the fund.[2] 3) Fannie and Freddie more entangled in government.  This bill counts on nearly $36 billion that comes from increasing the fees (known as g-fees) that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge for guaranteeing mortgages. In other words, this bill  turns Fannie and Freddie into sources of funds for the government.[3] Bottomline: At best, extension of the payroll tax holiday provides short-term, misguided relief with negligible long-term gains for the economy, and at worst creates more uncertainties than solutions. [1] http://blog.american.com/2011/12/henry-blodgets-strange-confusion-over-republicans-and-the-payroll-tax-cut/ [2] http://sonoranalliance.com/2011/12/19/jeff-flake-payroll-tax-gimmicks-hinder-serious-reform/ [3] http://blog.american.com/2011/12/why-the-payroll-tax-deal-just-made-privatizing-fannie-and-freddie-36-billion-harder/

Take Action Today On Balanced Budget Amendment

    Speaker Boehner is considering which Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA) to bring to the floor for a vote. There are two versions. Read about them below.

The “Clean” Version

• Does not cap spending as a percentage of GDP
• Does not require a super majority to raise taxes
• Will undoubtedly lead to tax increases & bigger & bigger government

The Strong Versions

• Cap spending as a percentage of GDP
• Some require a super majority to raise taxes, some do not
• Due to the cap, will prioritize spending cuts before ever raising taxes

 
More details about the variations of the BBA are below this call to action. 
 
The bottom line is this: The clean version will get more votes, making it more “bipartisan.” The strong version will get fewer votes because it takes a more principled, fiscally responsible stand, but we are talking about amending our Constitution! We should never amend our Constitution out of political expediency!
 
There has been some serious concern expressed about amending our Constitution in our discussions of a BBA, but you have overwhelmingly said that that if there is a vote on a BBA, you want Congress to vote for something that is meaningful and is not just a tactical move leading into an election year to get votes. 
 
Congressman Paul Ryan told some of our National Support Team yesterday that he is committed to a strong version; he is on record as only supporting a strong Balanced Budget Amendment. The top 3 in GOP Leadership are not so committed to a strong version.
 
With all this in mind, here is what you need to do today:

1. If you can only make one call, call Congressman Paul Ryan and thank him for his commitment to principle on the seriousness of amending the Constitution and sticking to a "strong" Balanced Budget Amendment. We must support people who stand strong!
   Paul Ryan: (202) 225-3031
2. Call Speaker Boehner, Congressmen Cantor and McCarthy and tell them that if they are bringing a BBA to the floor for a vote, it needs to be the “strong” version with spending caps.
   Speaker Boehner: (202) 225-6205
   Eric Cantor: (202) 225-2815
   Kevin McCarthy: (202) 225-2915

For more information on the Balanced Budget Amendment Click Here

Tell Congress: De-Fund Obamacare in the CR

The main power behind the tsunami that swept Republican conservatives into office in November 2010 was the mass disgust at the obscenely bloated, incomprehensible, and unconstitutional Obamacare law. The POTUS, Reid and Pelosi's "crowning achievement" and a crown jewel of socialism. We therefore will refer to it herein as "Obamao-care."

The mass disgust powered a record 86 republilcans into office to do ONE THING if nothing else: Defund and Repeal Obamao-care.

For some reason, the conservative Republicans elected in November 2010 are not sure of their ability to defund Obamao-care.

They made the up-or-down repeal vote; but they haven't yet de-funded it totally. That's because of some automatically-allocated money ($105 BILLION) which funds implementation of Obamao-care even if the rest of it is de-funded for 2011.  We will repeat that. Obamao-care has insidiously self-funded - even if NO funding is allocated in any budget, it will auto-fund itself by law. This is a brilliantly evil tactic because it is so difficult to root out and stop without repealing the bill - which can't be done with the current Senate and President.

So, two representatives -- Michelle Bachmann and Steve King -- determined that an amendment to the continuing resolution (CR) would de-fund the automatic allocation and thus completely de-fund Obamao-care for 2011. Without this amendment, Obamao-care self-funds automatically to the tune of $105 BILLION, inserting its tentacles tenaciously and possibly irretrievably into law and political structure, as well as the healthcare industry.

The problem: The Rules Committee is not allowing the amendment. The explanatio as to why is long and boring, and boils down to "it's hard to explain" "that's not how things are done here" and "it's hard to explain."  We think this is totally bogus. We think you will agree.

So, we have taken leave to create a letter which you can fax or mail - or call and dictate - to Speaker Boehner, Majority Leader Cantor, and Rules Chaiman Rogers. see below

Please take a minute to read this and kindly fax, email, snail mail and phone these three legislators - as well as our New Jersey Republicans LoBiondo, Frelinghuysen, Smith, Runyan, Lance, and Garrett too.

Dear Speaker Boehner, Leader Cantor, Chairman Rogers, and members of the House:

Thank you for bringing H.R. 2 to the floor, which resulted in a unanimous Republican vote to repeal the deceptively-named Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. ”ObamaCare.” This was an essential step in achieving our universal Republican goal to bring about the final, 100% repeal of this law. No strategy to accomplish this goal could succeed without this House.

From the moment legislation to repeal ObamaCare was first introduced, discussion has centered on first winning a Republican majority in the House, then holding a vote on repeal, and then prohibiting funding for the implementation and enforcement of ObamaCare. We must ensure that this strategy remains intact and continues immediately.

The success of our effort to shut off funding for ObamaCare will hinge on our leverage points in this first session of the 112th Congress: 1. the Continuing Resolution, which expires on March 18th, and 2. the vote on raising the debt ceiling, The work to defund ObamaCare began with the inclusion of language in H.R. 1 to restrict annual appropriations from being used to implement it. However, even this language, if enacted, leaves $105.5 billion in automatically-appropriated funds for the law's implementation. We cannot successfully defund ObamaCare without shutting off these automatically appropriated funds.

We firmly believe that the time to defund Obamacare is now. If we do not stand our ground on the CR, leverage it as the "must pass bill" that it is, and use it to stop the $105.5 billion in automatically-appropriated funds, ObamaCare will be implemented on our watch. We will also have conceded a significant amount of ground on this issue and will find it difficult, if not impossible, to regain that strategic advantage in future legislation or in elections.

Consequently, we ask that the following language be added to the FY11 CR to cut off both the annual and automatic appropriations for ObamaCare's implementation: "Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds made available by this or any previous Act with respect to any fiscal year may be used to carry out the provisions of Public Law 111-148, Public Law 111-152, or any amendment made by either such Public Law."

It is essential that the above language be included in the CR. We The People do not want to you to vote in support of a continuing resolution that is void of this crucial funding prohibition.

Sincerely,
WE THE PEOPLE OF NEW JERSEY

Speaker of the House Boehner
http://johnboehner.house.gov/
1011 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-6205
Fax: 202-225-0704

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor
http://cantor.house.gov/
303 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-2815
Fax: 202-225-0011

Rep. Harold Rogers, Rules Committee Chairman
2406 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-4601
Fax: 202-225-0940

Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen
2369 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-5034
Fax: 202-225-3186

Rep. Scott Garrett
2444 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-4465
Fax: 202-225-9048

Rep. Leonard Lance
426 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-5361
Fax: 202-225-9460

Frank LoBiondo
2427 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-6572
Fax: 202-225-3318

Rep. Jon Runyan
1239 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-4765
Fax: 202-225-0778

Chris Smith
2373 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-3765
Fax: 202-225-7768