WASHINGTON - With Christmas fast approaching, it's hard to say no to something called a "payroll tax holiday" -- part tax cut, part offer Congress can't refuse.
Boxed in by President Obama's insistence on extending the 2011 payroll tax cut for 160 million Americans, Minnesota Republicans in the U.S. House are caught in an intra-party rift that could come to a head as early as this week, when a vote is expected before the looming year-end deadline.
The temporary tax cut, which helped more than 3 million Minnesotans this year, is a major sticking point as Congress prepares to break for the holidays. It also has become a flashpoint in the broader ideological battle over taxes and spending, a key issue heading into the 2012 presidential election.
On one side are Tea Party activists such as presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, who opposes the tax holiday as a deficit-busting pelt for Obama's trophy wall -- one which she says only diverts money from Social Security.
"This is President Obama's plan of temporary gimmicks, not permanent solutions," Bachmann said in Saturday night's presidential debate in Iowa.
On the other side are House GOP leaders and their allies -- including Minnesota Republican John Kline -- who are loath to cede Obama the high ground on the GOP's traditional agenda of lowering taxes, even if they view the payroll holiday as a short-term gimmick that does little for the economy.
"In general, I like tax relief," Kline told the Star Tribune. "But having said that, not all tax relief is the same. Permanent tax relief is much better ... than temporary tax relief."
The payroll tax holiday, which temporarily reduced the rate paid by employees from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent, saved the average Minnesota family $1,112 this year, according to Senate Democratic calculations based on census data.