Guess what? Bush doesn't oppose
all tax increases -- heavens forbid! No, he opposes
tax rate increases. On that point Our Leader shall never waver. But if increasing the cap on payroll taxes beyond $90,000 is what it takes to make Social Security solvent... well... as long as the
rate doesn't change, he's all clear, see?
(Guess what else? Bush doesn't oppose all flip-flopping -- heaven forbid! No, no, he opposes flipping -- he has made that perfectly clear. But if flopping is what it takes to make his positions coherent... well...)
Heh. Enough foolery. So... Bush is now publicly flirting with the idea of
raising the cap on payroll taxes. I have three very different and conflicting feelings about this proposal:
- It's a progressive tax change. By increasing the tax burden on the wealthy, it makes the overall tax code more fair. Considered in isolation, raising the cap on payroll taxes is a good thing.
- Payroll taxes are an indefensible blight on the working class. They should be abolished and replaced by higher income, luxury, and capital-gains taxes. Any change to payroll taxes which increases their revenue flow makes it harder to kill the damn things.
- This proposal is politically difficult, if not impossible, for Democrats to oppose. If successful, it provides much ideological cover for Bush's other fiscal extravagances. (Bush has set the bar so low that any fiscally-responsible Bush proposal looms huge in the public discourse.)
One other side note -- Bush's upper-middle-class base won't like this idea, not one bit.
So. Those are my feelings, but I really haven't thought about Democratic strategy if this trial balloon isn't immediately shot down. How should we respond to this wavering in Bush's position?
Also, would an increase in the payroll tax cap ultimately be helpful or hurtful to the project of making our tax code more progressive?