Republicans in Congress seem to have forgotten the embarrassment they suffered late last year for trying to block a payroll tax cut for millions of wage-earners. The two-month extension they reluctantly approved will run out in three weeks, yet, again, they are stalling a full-year’s tax cut with extraneous issues and political ploys.

The need for the 2-percentage-point payroll tax break is as great now as it was in December. Without it, 160 million people who get paychecks would have to pay the government nearly $1,000 more. The increase would severely reduce growth and derail the slow-moving economic recovery. Failure to agree on a tax cut would also cut off unemployment benefits for tens of thousands of workers in many of the hardest-hit states.

Politically, however, extending the tax break would represent a victory for President Obama, who has been championing it. That remains intolerable to many Republicans, particularly in the House. So they are insisting on several extraneous provisions that have nothing to do with a tax cut for the middle class, hoping either to achieve a few ideological victories for themselves or force negotiations with Democrats to a standstill.

At the behest of the manufacturing lobby, for example, Republican negotiators still want to delay an environmental regulation that would require industrial boilers and incinerators to release less mercury, lead and soot. What does that have to do with the payroll tax cut? Nothing, of course; Republicans are simply trying to get Democrats to pay a price for something they want.