We will vote for the payroll tax, BUT….

[Pistarkle]

Tea Partied and ‘Grovered” Republican House representatives said they will vote for the payroll tax this evening, but it must be PAID FOR BY THE UNEMPLOYED INSTEAD OF THE WEALTHY (INCLUDING 140 OF THEIR OWN)!

To add insult to injury, they tacked on the following demands to their payroll tax extension hostage scheme:

1. Unemployment benefits will be cut by 40 weeks.

2. The unemployed must take drug tests before receiving benefits. (Your guess is as good as mine as where the money is going to come from to pay for the tests since their FELLOW Tea Partied Republican Governors and state legislators have stripped government program funding in favor of dishing out tax cuts and loopholes for big corporations in their states.)

3. The unemployed must enroll in GED programs before getting benefits. (How is that going to work when their FELLOW Tea Partied Republican Governors and state legislators have stripped their states’ education funds to peanuts?)

[Enthusiast]

1. I'm against the payroll tax cut.

In the face of the massive whining about the solvency of social security why would we cut the funding? Bullshit on this. It's just more wrong policy.

[femrap]

2. I am against it as well...

Notice that it is referred to as 'Payroll Tax' and not Social Security. I would bet that a ton of people don't know this.

Obama refers to it as a 'middle-class tax cut.' And when they're old and have no Security Net of income....then what?

And this Defense Authorization Bill that just passed the Senate....over 900 pages. Just how many 'rights' did we lose?

The gov't always pulls this crap right before Xmas when fewer people are paying attention. So will OWS protesters who are arrested...will they be classified as something else and kept longer in jail?

I'm at a total loss.

[Nickster]

3. The funding for the payroll tax cut comes from elsewhere in the budget. Social Security

still gets the full funding even with the payroll tax cut. They were trying to get the funding for the payroll tax cut by raising taxes on the 1%.

[Hatchling]

4. This is a very slippery slope.

Yes they have said they will pay for social security out of the general. But a little further down the path, when SSA isn't self funded by the FICA and another round of budget cuts are in the offing cutting social security will be more likely since it will be a drain on the general budget. Social Security must continue to be funded through FICA. ANd the assholes need to pay it back!

[Enthusiast]

5. But they did not succeed in getting

the payroll tax cut funded by raising taxes on the 1%. So there will be more wailing and gnashing of teeth about social security and how it is a ponzi scheme. I'm sick to death of this bullshit. We should be increasing FICA funding. Why does Obama ALWAYS do the wrong thing?