A Tax Cut Republicans Don’t Like

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Ezra Klein makes some phone calls:

I’ve asked a number of Republican offices whether they’d be willing to work with the Democrats on a payroll-tax holiday. Without fail, they’ve told me no, that they no longer support a payroll-tax holiday given the size of the deficit.

The scale of the cynicism here is pretty spectacular. Republicans don’t support payroll tax cuts because it would increase the deficit, but they do support extending Bush’s tax cuts on the rich because, you know, cutting taxes is really important during a recession. The effect on the deficit, needless to say, is about the same for both proposals.

Are there any Republican economic policies left that aren’t just thin covers for handing out goodies to corporations and the rich? Even just one or two for show? Not that I can think of. And they all come packaged with a well-honed and well-rehearsed intellectual superstructure that’s carefully designed to keep the chumps from figuring things out and to keep liberals like me busy arguing over ephemera. Where are the pitchforks when you need them?

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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