This posted on Theprovocation.net/

 This posted on  Theprovocation.net/

  Republicans in the House of Representatives are holding up an extension of the payroll tax cut that passed the Senate in an overwhelming bipartisan fashion, 89-10.

  Republican lawmakers, who are fond of saying they never met a tax cut they didn't like, apparently aren't fond of this one. Maybe because it's a tax cut that will benefit working men and women rather than the penthose capitalists of the 1%.

Without the extension, the average taxpayer will have to pay roughly $1,000 more a year. How's that for an economic stimulus? Not.

If this piece of legislation weren't so important to working Americans, it might be entertaining to watch House Republicans try to play pin the tail on the donkey - by blaming Democrats for their own mean-spirited intransigence. This particular child's game, one will recall, requires the participant to be blindfolded. And it's pretty clear that John Boehner & Co. are turning a blind eye to the hard times facing most Americans.

House Speaker John Boehner

Not only does their current gambit constitute cruel and unusual punishment for their constituents, it also makes absolutely zero political sense. One only has to look at the poll numbers to figure out that this particular strategy isn't a good one ... for Republicans. ACNN/ORC poll out yesterday showed that President Obama's approval rating is up to 49%, five points higher than last month's figure. And it's not hard to figure out why: Americans are sick and tired of Republicans in Congress blocking anything and everything that might give them an economic boost.

Who's to blame for this failed strategy? It's tempting to point a finger at Boehner, the current House Speaker. But upon closer inspection, Boehner's just following a playbook written by one of his predecessors - a former lawmaker who just happens to be running for president this election cycle. That's right, it's old Mr. Contract On America (yes, that reference is intentional) himself: Newt Gingrich.

Forget the ethical charges that arose during Gingrich's tenure as speaker. His real legacy, and his most damaging contribution to American politics, was his decision to turn the two-party system into a massive game of chicken. Return with me, if you will, to 1995. Gingrich, as Speaker of the House, held the budget hostage in an attempt to extract concessions from then-President Bill Clinton on health and safety regulations, death row appeals and a mandatory balanced budget. (Interestingly, Clinton presided over balanced budgets without the need for any such mandate, while his Republican successor, George W. Bush, ushered in an era of massive budget deficits).

When all was said and done, Gingrich - who had been seen as a possible presidential contender in 1996 - was so badly discredited that he didn't even run. Polls saw Clinton's approval ratings rise significantly, and he easily won re-election by defeating Republican Bob Dole.

Republican politicians like to rewrite history. Some like to declare that America is a "Christian nation." Others like to pretend that global warming didn't happen, evolution is a badly flawed theory and gays are second-class citizens. By the way, you might want to putGingrich himself in the latter category. He reportedly told an associate professor at William Penn University that he doesn't want the support of gay and lesbian Americans: They should just go ahead and vote for Obama instead.

I suspect most will do so, and gladly.

But back to the original point: Republican politicians seem to have been so preoccupied by rewriting history that they've failed to learn from it - and it's costing them. The Gingrich government shutdown not only hurt Americans, it hurt Republicans, too. Clinton was re-elected easily. Gingrich's reputation was damaged. And Republicans as a whole took the blame for a game of brinkmanship that never needed to happen.

Newt Gingrich in 1987, with second wife, Marianne

Yet in the years since, it's happened time and again - thanks to Boehner and others who have, almost inexplicably, been following Gingrich's failed blueprint. What's their motivation? It's politically stupid. It hurts ordinary Americans. And it further entrenches a partisan mindset that makes it harder and harder to get anythingdone in Washington.

If that's the kind of philosophy you like, go ahead and vote for Newt Gingrich and his protégés, like Boehner.

Gingrich is the man who, perhaps more than anyone else, created the political climate that exists today. He wanted to change America, and he did - for the worse. His Contract On America attracted a whole slew of political hit men whose goal it is to assassinate the American dream. It's on life support right now. And if Gingrich manages to make it to the White House, there's little doubt in my mind he'll try to pull the plug.