Posted by
Steve on Tuesday, December 06, 2011 12:00:38 PM
On the way in to work today, I listened to the Barry Young show on KFYI hosted by Barry Markson. They were talking about the payroll tax holiday the Democrats passed last year. The payroll tax holiday was for one year, so it expires at the end of this calendar year. The Democrats are claiming that the Republicans do not want to extend the tax holiday, so they want a tax increase. That is not true on its face, and not true in any way.
The issue is this: The payroll tax holiday has been agreed to by both parties. The real issue is how to “pay” for this tax holiday. The Democrats want to increase taxes on the top 10% of all tax payers. The Republicans want to have a spending cut to pay for the tax holiday. That is where the debate is and the disagreement is taking place. There is total agreement that the payroll tax holiday will be extended.
On the Barry Young show, Barry Markson was making the Democrat argument that the payroll tax holiday should be extended and the Republicans do not want to extend it. As shown above, that is not true. Some Republicans do not want to extend the tax holiday because the payroll taxes go to pay for Social Security. In 2010, Social Security was in a deficit situation for the first time. Giving a payroll tax holiday is just increasing that deficit. I know that there is no real dedicated Social Security Trust Fund.
The money for Social Security comes out of the general operating budget of the United States. So, any deficit in payroll taxes would be made up from other taxes. But, that is not really the point. The point is why increase the deficit when you do not have to increase the deficit. Payroll taxes hit every person that has a job and their employer. There are no exceptions in the payroll tax. So, this tax makes all people pay for benefits they receive. Having all people pay into the government makes them own the government just that much more.
This payroll tax holiday will be extended. The Democrats will demagogue the issue to death during the election season if it is not extended. That is why it will be extended. Let us hope that the part attached to the extension has spending cuts as the form of payment. We do not need tax increases. We do not have a revenue problem in this country. We have a spending problem. We have to get spending under control before we will be able to balance the budget.
Democrats are never serious about balancing the budget. They want higher taxes on everyone and bigger government through higher spending. As long as there is a Democrat in Washington, that will be an eternal problem. That is not saying that Republicans are that much better than the Democrats. Too many Republicans enjoy the benefits of being a Congressman or Senator and so continue the big spending programs in order to stay there. But, you are more likely to see a spending cut from a Republican than you ever will see one from a Democrat.
Glenn Beck was saying on his show the other day that of the freshmen Congressmen elected in 2010 there are only about 20 out of 70 that are still holding the line. The rest have been adopted into the culture of big spending that is Washington, D.C. That is scary. There were a lot of really good people who were elected in 2010. To see that many “fall by the wayside” this fast is scary. Let us hope the crop from 2012 will be much stronger than the crop of 2010.