Beltway Confidential

Make the payroll tax cut permanent

By Conn Carroll
Published November 29, 2011 5:00am ET
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Make the payroll tax cut permanent
Mercatus Center senior research fellow and Social Security trustee Chuck Blahous has a post up at Fox News asking Congress to think twice about the consequences of extending the supposedly temporary payroll tax cut at the end of this year. Blahous writes: While nearly everyone has focused on the debatable efficacy of temporary payroll tax […]

Mercatus Center senior research fellow and Social Security trustee Chuck Blahous has a post up at Fox News asking Congress to think twice about the consequences of extending the supposedly temporary payroll tax cut at the end of this year. Blahous writes:

While nearly everyone has focused on the debatable efficacy of temporary payroll tax relief as a stimulus measure, few seem to have noticed the severe problems it could create for Social Security itself.
Specifically, the proposal would accelerate a process begun last December: transforming Social Security from what it long has been—a benefit earned by worker contributions—into an income tax based system more akin to welfare.

But isn’t this a development many conservatives would embrace? Consider The Heritage Foundation’s section on Social Security in their Saving the American Dream long-term budget plan:

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Conn Carroll