FLASHBACK: Geithner Doesn't "See Any Reason to Consider" Payroll Tax Cut

Kevin Glass | November 21, 2012 6:50 PM

In the wake of last year's deal to cut payroll taxes, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was publicly adamant that it would be the last time that payroll tax cuts would be on the table as a way of stimulating the economy.

“This has to be a temporary tax cut. I don’t see any reason to consider supporting its extension” in 2013, Geithner said at a Senate Budget Committee hearing.
Geithner said he supports the extension through the end of 2012, saying lawmakers had taken a “critically important” step toward helping the economy when they struck a deal to extend jobless benefits and a payroll-tax cut.

As we all know, the payroll tax cut is up for renewal in the package of policies that comprise the fiscal cliff. An extension would cost over $200 billion over two years and would worsen the finances of Social Security. The White House has been noncommittal on extending the payroll tax cut, but Democrats in Congress like Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.) have been adamant about its extension.