Why Congress Must Extend The Payroll Tax Cut

Ron Klain explains why Congress should put politics aside and extend the payroll tax cut in his column, “All Americans Lose If Payroll-Tax Cut Isn’t Renewed”

In fact, the president’s proposal would lower taxes by $2,200 for that single doctor; by $3,200 for the manager and the Realtor; by $3,600 for the journalist-lawyer couple; and by $2,000 for the small-business owner. And for those who bring home a more typical paycheck — a teacher making $40,000 a year; a technician married to a police officer, each making $45,000; or two married office administrators bringing in $50,000 each — the president also wants to preserve their tax cuts ($800, $1,800 and $2,000, respectively).

That is what is at stake in the current standoff in Congress over Obama’s plan to extend the payroll-tax cut for all these people, and everyone else who brings home a paycheck. In perhaps the most significant economic-policy debate now under way, the president is confronting Republican opposition to his plan to keep in place a 2 percent tax cut scheduled to expire in a little more than a month.