February 14, 2012 9:42AM # The Do-Nothing Senate: Looking to 2012 By [Roger Pilon](https://www.cato.org/people/roger-pilon) --- SHARE Today [POLITICO Arena](http://www.politico.com/arena/) asks: > Was the House GOP decision to unlink deficit reduction and an extension of the payroll tax holiday a smart move, or does it undermine their deficit reduction message? My response: The House Republicans’ move to unlink deficit reduction and an extension of the payroll tax holiday is simply a bow to reality. They’ve learned from [the first session of the 112th “Tea Party” Congress](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=14023) that any deficit reduction measures they’d make will go nowhere in the do-nothing Senate. As [William McGurn details](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204883304577221523379438502.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop) in this morning’s *Wall Street Journal*, the Harry Reid Senate hasn’t passed a budget resolution in three years and has never voted to extend the payroll tax cut for a full year—the administration’s No. 1 economic priority according to Vice President Biden. So what’s the point of House Republicans conditioning an extension of the payroll tax holiday on a spending cut, only to be blamed, when the Senate balks, for wanting to raise taxes on the middle class? As long as there’s a do-nothing Senate, our deficits and debt will only grow. ##### Related Tags [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).