Karl Rove piles on, tells Republicans to cut bait in tax standoff

Karl Rove

/ CBS

You know it's bad for Republicans when Karl Rove says it's time to cave and move on.

The former political adviser to President George W. Bush said Wednesday that the famously conservative Wall Street Journal editorial page was right when it said House Republicans should cut their losses and agree with a bipartisan Senate plan to extend for just two months the payroll tax cut enacted last year.

Republicans "have lost the optics on it," Rove told Fox News, "the question now is how do the Republicans get out of it."

Speaker John Boehner and House Republicans on Tuesday blocked a Senate proposal to extend the popular tax cut for two months in an effort to allow lawmaker from both parties more time to hash out a larger compromise on a host of issues that were holding up the payroll tax extension.

Boehner had reportedly backed the plan at first, but many of the most conservative members of parties revolted on Saturday and said they would not accept the Senate plan, vowing to kill it when it came to the House of Representatives.

But that may have been easier said than done. So Boehner came up with a plan to block the Senate bill without actually voting on the extension. Using a procedural move, the House voted to "disagree" with the Senate plan and set up a committee of members from both parties from both the House and Senate to work out a new compromise on legislation.

But most senators had already left Washington for the holidays and the Senate proposal was itself a compromise between Democrats and Republicans, who overwhelmingly supported the short-term legislative option to avoid the most contentious issues and pass the popular tax cut for two months. The Senate bill, which also includes an extension of unemployment benefits and a measure to make sure doctors do not have their Medicare payments cut, passed 89-10. All but seven Republicans voted for it.

The mastermind of Mr. Bush's 2004 re-election effort said the only thing Republicans can do now is "use it for political theater and then vote the two month extension and get out of town."

"The only way to win it is to just stick there and ruin their own Christmases and wait until the president heads off to Hawaii for his, and then lambaste the Democrats for having abdicated their responsibilities to pass a year-long tax cut," Rove said.

The payroll tax affects about 160 million Americans and it was cut a year ago in an effort to stimulate the economy with a little extra cash in people's pockets. Many conservative Republicans are skeptical of the macroeconomic benefits of the payroll tax cut.

Mark Zandi, an influential economist who served as an adviser to the 2008 presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain, has said the economy could fall back into recession if the payroll tax cut is not extended.

[Barry_H_Entai]

Rove capitulating just goes to show that yes, sometimes the good guys can win!

[noloyalisti]

Rove hates American workers and the middle class as much or more than all the other Republicons. He just knows that they are in a losing situation with no way out, except down.

[marrofkane]

Of course they retreated. They were afraid it would hurt their chances in next November's election. And if you vote republican, you are voting for the rich. So if you are not rich, you know what to do.

[noloyalisti]

They will have another fight in 2 months when the tax break is going to expire. So that will remind everyone again that the Republiclowns are a wholly owned subsidiary of the Top 1%.

[anyyname]

Hey Rove, got any new brainstorms for Repubs looking for another fake war to protect the people. How about space aliens? The GOP could replace the boring terrorist propaganda with space alien invasion propaganda. That might keep the hawks in power. Did I forget to call you a loser. Yo're a loser.

[Tarzan98]

Please join me in voting for Ron Paul.

[anyyname]

The fact that the GOP insider elite are attacking Paul proves that Paul could sink their boat by not fronting their con game. If you have to vote for any party candidate, at least vote for the only one that isn't a frontman for wealthy scum. Paul may be our last chance. Good Citizenship requires that we observe, debunk, and act for our mutual protection. Paul is labeled as a nut by the Repub/Dem power monopolists. They are afraid of his honesty.

[WelderBob]

Yea Right Mini-Mouse,by far not Tarzan "PAUL?" Are you insane?
And along with him let Iran have nukes,end Medicare Medicaid and SS.
Legalize Heron,he would favor repealing Jim Crow law.
This man is a nut case and you want him running our country??
Please take your med's Mini-Mouse,and return after the Nov.2012 elections

[noloyalisti]

IN most fascist countries like America, the giant corporations and big money run everything. You can see how the right wing runs all the media. They use the military to start wars using our money so they can profit. And the have been running fraudulent elections for years. Now that they have citizens unite, the corporations are people (except they can't be punished for their crimes) and and money is free speech.

With the money they are able to control all the elections and bribe the Congress. We are definitely the most corrupt western nation in the world. By a long shot.

[fedup12]

Kind of funny. Boner lets the minority tea wackos control all his actions. Its like they are above him with strings.

He has less cojones than Obama.

[noloyalisti]

It's because the tea baggers in Congress are actually appointed by the Top 1% to run the government for profit for them. At the expense of the rest of us.

[fedup12]

Too Late Karl. We see that the 99ers are just pawns in your game.

Funny you rushed. Wheedled argued and whined till you got the Bush tax cuts back.

Why didnt you fight for me?

[occupy_cbs]

Patriotnow: "Hey Occupy, republicans are pushing for a year - not two months."



Too funny.....speaker boner CAVES and says his actions were just politically motivated and not very smart!

[occupy_cbs]

economicterror: Wouldn't the press know it's Rove, not Rowe, and his nickname from the Bush administration is "turd blossom"?



Maybe not, since these are the "publisher's" own words here:

"And keep in mind that Im a recovering jerk."
STERLING GREENWOOD
PUBLISHER
http://www.aspenfreepress.com/