The GOP should filibuster for a payroll tax cut

I'm still trying to figure out why the GOP is not attacking the payroll tax. Republicans need to recognize that they have lost the perception battle on income tax cuts. Regardless of how they spin it, it will always come off as "tax cuts for the rich."

This is understandable since most income tax cuts DO benefit the rich because they pay the majority of income taxes. And tax cuts "for the rich" do tend to expand investment, increase overall tax revenues and improve the economy, but the perception battle has been lost after years of the media and Democrats hammering the "for the rich" theme.

A payroll tax cut has a number of attractive features,but it has one that is absolutely indisputable...it affects everyone who works and has an immediately visible benefit to all taxpayers.

Each and every taxpayer that gets a payroll check will see that their take home pay is more than their last check. And the "take home" number is all that most taxpayers care about...you can't spend what you don't take home.

For the life of me I cannot understand why GOP Senators don't take to the Senate floor with a large copy of an average payroll check showing that under a plan to cut payroll taxes (which would immediately pump more consumer spending into the economy) an average American would see an immediate benefit.

The best political position for the GOP to take at this point would be a "If you want to pump money into the economy, let the average American do it...not the government."

GOP Senators should say "we will not allow this bill to pass unless it is coupled with a immediate cut in the payroll tax."

The economic benefit would be tremendous, and the political benefit incalculable...

I can only assume that it is sheer lack of political courage that stops them from doing so.