Look at the political gymnastics the Republicans are going through to avoid voting against a so-called TAXCUT.

[PHILIP SCHNEIDER]

The democrats have painted the Republicans into a corner again.

CBO: GOP bill adds $25.3 billion to deficit (WHAT??)

By Erik Wasson - 12/09/11 03:05 PM ET

The House payroll tax bill will add $25.3 billion to the federal deficit over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The bill, which extends the payroll tax and federal unemployment benefits for one year, would add $166.8 billion to the deficit for fiscal year 2012. Much of those costs would be offset over the 10-year period through other provisions in the bill.

The House GOP bill also includes the “doc fix” provision preventing a cut to physician payments under Medicare that Congress routinely puts off.

The CBO estimate could be a problem for GOP leaders, who already face resistance from members who do not want to extend the payroll tax cut, a top priority for President Obama.

The Republican Study Committee budget guru Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) said he wanted to see the bill be deficit neutral in the first year.

The House could vote on the bill as soon as Tuesday.

The GOP bill would not add to the deficit if it is assumed that Congress would prevent the cut in physician payments. CBO also did an analysis that includes this assumption in the baseline. Under that analysis, it projects the GOP bill would cut $4 billion from the deficit.Democrats are alleging that the GOP tried to game the system by directing CBO to use the alternative baseline and by including other scorekeeping instructions.

A Democratic aide said despite these efforts the GOP’s bill violates budget rules known as “cutgo” that the House adopted at the beginning of this Congress.

Cutgo specifies that spending must be offset only by spending cuts not by revenue increases. The payroll tax holiday counts as spending since money is spent from the Treasury to pay into Social Security, which otherwise loses funds from the payroll tax break.

It also specifies that a bill must not add to the deficit in the 5-year and 10-year budget windows.

According to CBO, the bill increases spending by $34 billion in the first five years and this is a cutgo violation, a Democratic aide explained.

At the very end of their 369-page bill, Republicans included instructions to CBO on how to score the bill to try to make it abide by the rules.

They tried to get CBO to credit flood insurance reforms with $4.9 billion in savings, but CBO refused to do so.

They also tried to get CBO to count savings in Social Security, which is not on the federal budget, and cuts to discretionary spending through spending caps.

The bill lowers the spending caps in the August debt ceiling agreement by $29 billion over 10 years.

Democrats predict the GOP will have to amend their bill’s text to get the numbers to work out as far as Cutgo is concerned.

The CBO announced its projects in a letter to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.).

The GOP bill would extend a 2-percentage-point decrease in the payroll tax. It also extends unemployment insurance benefits and extends an expensing provision for small businesses.

To gain GOP votes, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) includes unemployment reforms, changes to environmental rules, a freeze in federal worker pay and a provision to require a decision on approving the Keystone pipeline.

According to CBO the $200 billion bill breaks down as follows over ten years:

Costs:

Payroll tax reduction: $121 billion

Unemployment Insurance extension: $34 billion

Doc Fix: $39 billion

Small business tax expensing: $6 billion

Revenues:

Changes to Medicare and other health provisions:  $38 billion

Spectrum sales: $16 billion

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fees:  $36 billion

Social Security change: $3 billion

Bar illegal aliens from receiving tax credit: $9 billion

Means-testing UI and food stamps: $127 million

Freeze federal worker pay: $2 billion

Change to federal worker retirement benefits: $37 billion

Other health provision: $31 billion

Flood insurance reform: $0

Nobody has connected the dots for me on this issue yet BUT I think the democrats with Republican votes passed the "Payroll Tax Cut" on the backs of seniors getting Social Security. The "TAX CUT" that was to last for one year is the current issue which the democrats want to extend for yet another year.

The Payroll Tax Cut was applied to the regular workers FICA deductions which pays for the Social Security system and Medicare. I haven't received a cost of living increase (COLA) for last year. The TAX CUT, in my opnion was paid for on the backs of seniors on Social Security.

If you think all of this crazyness in Washington doesn't directly affect YOU, check your wallet.