The Hill News

Sen. Bob Corker said Republicans are losing in negotiations over a payroll tax cut extension and should just agree to extend the tax cut and move on.

"Are Republicans getting killed now in public opinion? There's no question," Corker (R-Tenn.) said Friday on CNBC.

Corker agrees with an editorial in The Wall Street Journal published Friday  urging House Republicans to bite the bullet and pass the Senate-approved two-month payroll tax cut extension.

After the bill sailed through the Senate over the weekend in an 89-10 vote, House Republicans said the bill was unacceptable and should die in their chamber because it didn't extend the payroll tax cut extension for a full year.

The Wall Street Journal editorial arg! ues that House Republicans have unintentionally opposed to extending the tax cut and should just extend it and move on.

"Both Republicans and Democrats have agreed that this is going to happen and probably the best thing to happen now is just to get it over with â€"one more policy blunderâ€" but just get it over with and move on because now it's been framed as a tax increase which it's not," Corker said.

"But again, I know what's going to happen and I agree with the editorial this morning in the Wall Street Journal; probably the best thing to do at this point is just get this behind us and move on and hopefully figure out a way to deal with the real issues that our country needs to deal with: our deficits, reforming entitlements, reforming taxes," Corker continued. "Those are the things that to me are going to stimulate our economy."

This week, House Republicans voted to create a conference committee to reconcile the differences between th! e Senate-approved two-month tax cut extension and a yearlong e! xtension the House approved earlier this year. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said he won't call back the Senate and negotiate on a longer extension until House Republicans agree to  pass the two-month bill that passed his chamber.

Corker said he would be fine with returning to Washington to work with the House committee. 

"I'm more than glad to go back," Corker said. "I think we should go back and I think it's candidacy very arrogant of the Senate to say 'hey we passed a piece of legislation you either take it or leave it.' Candidly, the House is right on this."

Corker predicted that some kind of extension would be passed in a "clumsy way."

"It'll get done in a pretty clumsy way as it is now," Corker said. "And again, it's one more terrible public policy move that furthers our country down the road that's in a negative way."