Cutting taxes for middle-class families with kids is a noble pursuit for conservatives. The Washington Examiner, in an editorial (“Cut Taxes for the 47 percent,” Dec. 27, 2016) proposed one way to reduce the burden on families who face a small or no income tax liability: creating an a exemption to the payroll tax. Working- and middle-class breadwinners would be able to earn a certain amount of wages without having to pay Social Security and Medicare payroll tax (known as “FICA”). This FICA exemption would grow progressively larger with family size.

Would this work? Is it good tax reform? Does it fit with conservative ideas?