Can Boehner Really Be This Dumb ?

Last December the House Republicans, led by Speaker John Boehner, had their asses handed to them by President Obama and Senate Democrats. The president wanted an extension of the payroll tax cuts he had initiated -- tax cuts that affected millions of American workers. Since these payroll tax cuts did nothing for the rich (the only people the GOP cares about), the Republicans opposed them. Realizing they ran the risk of alienating millions of voters, the Republicans in the House finally relented and passed a payroll tax cut, but loaded that bill with giveaways for corporations and the rich and cuts for ordinary Americans.

The president and the Democrats refused to give in and wouldn't even let the crazy House bill come up for a vote in the Senate. As time ran out in December and the Republicans began to take the hit for not approving the payroll tax cuts, they finally gave in and approved a two-month extension of it. The one concession they got was an agreement that a quick decision on the Keystone oil pipeline would be made by the president. They thought they had forced the president to help them give a big new payday to Big Oil.

They were wrong. The president made the quick decision they wanted, but it was to reject the pipeline. The Republicans had been played. Democrats got their payroll tax extension and the Republicans got nothing -- except for a lot of bad publicity for delaying the payroll tax cut extension. But Boehner and his Republican cohorts seem to have learned nothing from that political blunder.

Since the payroll tax cut was only extended for two months, an extension for the rest of the year must be approved before the end of February. And the Republicans are once again demanding corporate giveaways in exchange for agreeing to the tax cut for working Americans. Boehner told Fox News last Sunday that they are still trying to get the pipeline approved (which would create virtually no jobs and pose a serious danger to the environment). And he threatened to make approval of the pipeline a requirement for extending the payroll tax cut.

The president has made it clear that he will not approve the pipeline before 2013 -- giving the EPA and others time to fully study the environmental impact of the pipeline (since the only study and hearings conducted so far was by the company wanting to build the pipeline). It is extremely unlikely the president will give in on this, especially after his recent decision to reject the pipeline.

That means the Republicans are once again going to put themselves in the position of opposing the payroll tax cuts unless a big giveaway to corporations is approved with it. Have they already forgotten the anti-Republican sentiment among voters this same position earned them just last December? It's hard to believe that Boehner and his Republican House cohorts could be this dumb again this soon.

The president has shown recently that he is now willing to play a little political hardball, and he has the voters on his side in this debate. It is the Republicans who will again be viewed as trying to block the payroll tax cut, and that is not going to sit well with millions of working people -- especially with an election coming up in just a few months.

The Republicans are already viewed by many (justifiably) as favoring the rich (and corporations) over all other Americans. If they try to play games with the payroll tax cut extension again, this view will just be verified. I know the Republicans love the campaign money they have received from Big Oil, but can that money replace all the votes they stand to lose over this issue?