Obama Administration Not Sticking Up For Payroll Tax Cut - Forget EUC08!

Now facing another deadline, the White House has gone almost completely quiet on one of its favorite stimulus policies. In a report released Monday morning, the administration warned that middle-class families will pay thousands more in taxes next year unless Republicans relented on income tax breaks for the rich. But the report didn't mention the soon-to-expire payroll tax cut.

At the daily briefing later on Monday, Alan Krueger, chairman of President Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), said that the payroll tax cut clearly gave a boost to middle-class families and to the economy in general over the past year. But he stopped notably short of supporting its extension.

"There are many tax provisions that are expiring at the end of the year and the president has said that the payroll tax cut, among others, should be on the table," Krueger said, referring to fiscal cliff talks, during an unexpected appearance at the daily White House press briefing.