LOWER THE RATES and BROADEN THE BASE

[TrollBuster9090]

Now that 'the grand bargain' appears to be moving, and Social Security is apparently 'on the table,' this would be a good time to start repeating a REPUBLICAN talking point trope that's made most of us BARF for the last 20 years.

namely: "LOWER THE RATES AND BROADEN THE BASE"


Okay, fine, how about LOWERING the PAYROLL TAX RATE to 4%, and LIFTING the $109,000 Payroll Tax CAP (aka 'broadening the base')? Make it 4% for EVERYBODY, rather than 6% for the POOR and next to nothing (proportionally) for millionaires.


Or does 'BROADEN THE BASE' only refer to charging POOR PEOPLE taxes in the Republican Universe?

Seriously, this is a (rare) Republican WEDGE ISSUE, given that they've hung their rhetorical hat on the idea of LOWERING TAXES. But every time Obama tried to extend the Payroll Tax Holiday, they exploded in all directions in a fit of cognitive dissonance to find reasons why it was a terrible idea.

Here's an interesting bit of history (that most of you know). Watch while I pull back the curtain on The Wizard of Oz..."RONALD REAGAN did NOT 'lower taxes." Not even in 1981. HE JUST SHIFTED THE TAX BURDEN from the INVESTOR CLASS to the WORKING CLASS. But somehow that was enough to fool those mythical 'Reagan Democrats' into thinking that he was The Great Tax-Cutter. BULLSHIT! It was a slight of hand PARLOR TRICK!

But now Obama has a chance to pull the same trick: SHIFT IT BACK!! Just get Reid to submit a bill containing ONE PARAGRAPH that ANYBODY can understand, which removes the cap and lowers the rate.


PUT THE DAMNED PAYROLL TAX CAP ON THE TABLE, ALREADY, YOU STUPID DEMOCRATS! This is not ROCKET SCIENCE!

[LonePirate]

1. Under no circumstances should we ever lower the rates. Eliminate deductions only.

If anything, we should be raising rates, not lowering them.

[TrollBuster9090]

2. So, in this case you'd be advocating removing the Payroll Tax Cap, but not lowering the rate?

That's fine, but I'd have to disagree in that particular case. Mainly because putting more money into the pockets of the working poor is actually STIMULATORY to the economy. They spend it in the local economy (local grocery stores, shoe stores, hardware stores) which stimulates the economy. So, I'm in favor of shifting the maximum amount of tax burden away from the poor, obviously at the expense of the top income earners, but if necessary even at the expense of the upper middle class.

Although I totally agree about a cap on deductions. Another talking point from the Romney Campaign that we should be repeating. Put a cap on deductions which benefit the upper class, and lower as much of the tax burden as possible on the working poor. The working poor currently pay no INCOME taxes, but they're still getting slammed by a whole slew of payroll taxes, sales taxes and various surcharges.

[Angry Dragon]

4. Are you talking about tax rates??

The OP is about SS

[Benton D Struckcheon]

3. Minor point of order if I may

I'd just like to remind everyone that the reason Reagan could get away with that is that Dems back in the late seventies opposed indexing the tax brackets, which just gave rise to "bracket creep", where a raise that only made up for inflation put you in a higher tax bracket. That's why there were Reagan Democrats.
I have no problem with your idea, however. It was fun watching the Republicans try to worm their way around that payroll tax cut.