Thursday, August 25, 2011

I Agree With Republicans On One Issue

Name almost any issue and chances are I will disagree with the GOP's (as well as the Democrat's) perspective. However, I've recently found myself in agreement with one Republican position: opposition to the extension of the payroll tax deduction.

Mind you, this deduction has resulted in more take home pay from my wife's monthly paycheck. It is certainly not that we're doing so well that I consider this additional money a mere pittance. It's money we utilize to get by from month-to-month.

My opposition to the reduction is based on mathematics and the political calculations of others. We've been hearing for the past decade that the Social Security Fund is running out of surplus money and, at some point in the not too distant future, the fund will not be able to meet 100 percent of its obligations. Whether this is true or not is a debate for another post.

But this is the storyline being told to us by conservatives AND our president. So, IF the fund indeed is running a deficit, how will putting less money into it solve the problem? Instead of helping to remedy the problem, less revenue will worsen it! This is no more difficult to figure out than 5th grade math problem.

You see, I worry about the future ramifications of extending the payroll tax reduction this year. While it will benefit workers in the short-term, it may well pave the way for privatizing Social Security in the long run. With the fund running even larger deficits, this would provide conservatives and the president with the political space to demand fundamental changes -- changes that will benefit Wall Street and harm the rest of us.

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