they suddenly became real. now that they re turning south, they re apparently fake once more. which leads us to today s big question. is the white house morworried about an economic downturn to than they re willing to say publicly. joining me is geoff bennett, msnbc political analyst jonathan lemire, politico white house reporter nancy cook and new york times tax and economics reporter jim tankersley. what a great panel. thanks to you all for being here. jeff, the deputy press secretary hogan gidley was on fox news today. he was pressed about this whole idea of a payroll tax cut. let me play what he said. if there were to be a temporary payroll tax being considered, what might draw the conclusion that there is a need to stimulate the economy? the economy that, obviously, the white house and the president tout is still on very strong ground? first of all, there s a payroll tax cut, not a payroll tax because we are always looking to give people back