Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions may believe that a payroll tax cut is not a tax cut, but the rest of the Republican conference seems to disagree. Sens. Dean Heller, R-Nev., and John Thune, R-S.C., have introduced a plan, which has been embraced by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., that would extend the current payroll tax cut rates for another year and offset them by cutting government spending.
Before 2011, employers and employees each paid a 6.2% tax on all wages paid to employees. The mini-stimulus passed by the lame duck 111th Congress last December, lowered the employee portion of the payroll tax to 4.2% which cost the federal government an estimated $111 billion in lost revenue. This shortfall was added directly to our national debt.
