Why the GOP caved in the payroll tax fight: 4 theories

Republicans are easing up on their opposition to the Democrats' push to extend a tax break for 160 million Americans. What made the GOP blink?

In an apparent win for Democrats, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Wednesday that the GOP would probably support an extension of the payroll tax cut.
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell essentially conceded on Wednesday that Republicans would support President Obama's proposed extension of the payroll tax holiday. The 6.2 percent Social Security payroll tax was reduced to 4.2 percent in 2011 — and now it looks like the measure will be repeated in 2012. However, Republicans want to pay for it by freezing the wages of federal workers and cutting government jobs, not by hiking taxes on millionaires, as Democrats prefer. McConnell says Senate Republicans "put aside their misgivings" not because they believe, as Obama does, that the move will stimulate the economy, but because they want to "give some relief to struggling workers." Still, this is a big shift by the GOP. What changed Republicans' minds? Here, four theories:

1. Democrats outmaneuvered them

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