Zandar's Thought Of The Day

Pop quiz, hotshot.  Democrats are in trouble and the average American is seeing the good life and the middle class slip further and further away.  13 million Americans are out of work.  What do you do in order to get the voting populace back on your side?

If you answered "Ezra Klein's payroll tax holiday idea!" then hey, you've got something going here.

With the recovery faltering less than two months before the November congressional elections, President Obama's economic team is considering another big dose of stimulus in the form of tax breaks for businesses - potentially worth hundreds of billions of dollars, according to two people familiar with the talks.

Among the options are a temporary payroll tax holiday and a permanent extension of the research and development tax credit, say people familiar with the talks who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to describe private deliberations.

Permanently extending the research credit would cost roughly $100 billion over the next decade, tax experts said. And depending on its form and duration, a payroll tax holiday could let businesses keep more than $300 billion they would otherwise owe the Treasury. 

Now here's the question:  would businesses just not take payroll taxes out and give those straight to the American people, or would they sit on the money and pocket the difference?  If it's the former and it becomes "OK, for the rest of the year we're not going to take federal taxes out of your paycheck and you can keep it" then this is a good thing.  If it's the latter...not so much.

Republicans of course will find a way to block it.  They won't countenance Obama getting a win here on a payroll tax holiday.