Tonight on Countdown, Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) argued that the tax cut deal's Social Security payroll tax holiday is a misguided effort at stimulus and ought to be replaced with a different tax cut. While he acknowledged that the Social Security payroll tax cut will provide a short-term economic boost, Holt strongly objected to using treating the tax as if it were just another fungible source of government revenue. Holt's concern is that treating it like any other tax will weaken the sense of ownership that people have over the Social Security program and make it more vulnerable to future political attacks.
Despite Holt's objections, it's clear that the Social Security payroll tax cut will pass the House tomorrow and make its way to President Obama's desk. Given that reality, those of us who share Holt's concern will need to be vigilant that when the payroll tax cut is due to expire at the end of 2011, politicians from both parties don't give into the temptation to extend the tax cut, thereby depriving Social Security of its core revenue stream and putting the program directly on the chopping block.