Is the slow, irreversible starvation of your futures worth giving huge tax cuts to the rich, tax hikes to the poor, and bupkis to those unemployed longer than 99 weeks?
Senate Republicans have just admitted that if the payroll tax -- Social Security's funding mechanism -- is cut, they will never undo the "temporary" cuts, thus setting in motion the slow starving of the program.
More after the jump.
From HuffPo:
Republicans acknowledged that the expiration of the tax holiday will be treated as a tax increase. "Once something like this goes into place, a year from now, when it expires, it’ll be portrayed as a tax increase," said Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.). "So in a body like Congress, precedents matter and this is setting a precedent. I think that certainly is going to create some problems down the road if it passes."
Given that Congress, under Democratic control, can’t gather itself to let tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire, members of both parties are convinced that letting the payroll tax rate revert back to its current spot will be near impossible.
"Once you bring a rate down, if it goes back up, people will feel that. They’ll feel their paycheck being less and that argument" — that letting it expire amounts to a tax hike — "eventually is bound to be made," said Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.).
"There’s always a tendency to continue those things... Once something comes in, it’s very difficult to change it," said Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio.) He then volunteered, without prompting, that "It would be detrimental to the Social Security system, especially when it’s in bad shape."
As David Dayensaid about this:
Republicans are basically telling you their strategy. They will call the expiration of the payroll tax cut an increase. They will use the reduction in revenue to claim that Social Security is in bigger financial trouble than it is. They will try to stop the money from getting restored.
I ask again:
Is the slow, irreversible starvation of your futures worth giving huge tax cuts to the rich, tax hikes to the poor, and bupkis to those unemployed longer than 99 weeks?