The Coming Republican Tax Increase

Sept 8th, 2011
by F. Grey Parker

One of President Obama's central talking points in this evening's "jobs speech" was the call to extend the current "payroll tax cut." I think we, the people, can expect the Republicans not to do so.

Really. They are planning to raise taxes. Disproportionately on the poor. That's their plan.

Sara Murray writes today in the WSJ:

"The tax cut reduced an employee's share of the Social Security payroll tax to 4.2% from 6.2% for 2011, at a cost to the government of $111.7 billion."

As a regular reader of the Journal, this is very telling. It is not often that the editors of this particular outlet allow a tax cut to be referred to as a "cost to the government." In fairness, Murray's piece is not overtly participatory in the War on the Poor. She points to one factor that may have mitigated the policy's benefit: