This topic can easily be tucked into any number of threads where the payroll tax cheerleaders argue over the "2-month/12-month" band-aid. I decided it needed its own thread. The silent co-conspirator in this saga, the media, keeps the "payroll tax" issue fired up and divides the taxpayers while really important national and international issues suffer benign neglect. We are hoodwinked into being riveted on a contrived drama because most of us are bored with the GOP Presidential race. Accordingly, "we the people" are being snookered and sandbagged ........again. Here's why.

How is the payroll tax going to be funded?

WASHINGTON (AP) — Who is paying for the two-month extension of the payroll tax cut working its way through Congress? The cost is being dropped in the laps of most people who buy homes or refinance beginning next year.

The typical person who buys a $200,000 home or refinances that amount starting on Jan. 1 would have to pay roughly $17 more a month for their mortgage, thanks to a fee increase included in the payroll tax cut bill that the Senate passed Saturday. The White House said the fee increases would be phased in gradually Alan Fram, Associated Press

So much for resurrecting the housing market.

"The payroll tax cut is paid for by an increase in the guarantee fee on new loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government run mortgage companies.

In general, it’s a bad idea to conflate paying for tax cuts with changes to Fannie, Freddie and broader mortgage finance system". New York Times

Don't you feel better about the whole thing because Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are involved?

I am stunned that the New York Times, the bastion of Liberal journalism said this about the plan.

"More specifically, the new fees will likely be passed on to homeowners, precisely when the Obama administration is trying to make refinancing easier for struggling homeowners. If you want to encourage an activity, the last thing you want to do is make it more expensive".

Wow....common sense from the Old Grey Lady. Did Rupert Murdoch buy it?

This would all be laughable if it wasn't so bizarrely sad and frustrating.

God Bless America