Reuters, Republicans Paint Themselves Into a Tax-Cut Corner, by David Cay Johnston:

Slyly encouraged by President Barack Obama, Republicans have painted themselves into a tax corner. … The irony is that Obama’s payroll tax cut could have been taken over by the Republicans as their issue, but they flubbed it. …

Having outsmarted Norquist, Obama gets to run for a second term as the champion of at least a $100 billion tax cut. Obama can even say that if Republicans had had their way, working people’s taxes would have gone up while taxes on billionaires would have gone down. And he gets to tell small business owners that, but for Republicans, their taxes would have gone down too.

This is a marketing fiasco for Republicans to rival the Ford Edsel and New Coke. Already more than 40 congressional Republicans have taken steps to distance themselves from Norquist, who scowls at the mere mention of what could have been his, but is now Obama’s, very popular tax cut. …

Obama’s payroll tax cut benefits everyone who has a job, but most workers get a pittance. The lowest paid 38 million Americans, the one in four workers who earn less than $10,000 a year, will save on average less than $80 each. Only 45% of the savings go to 75% of workers, those making under $50,000. But the top 4.8% get 16.3% of the tax savings, my analysis of the plan shows.