Monday, March 08, 2004

Payroll taxes only go in one direction: up

State and federal income tax rates fluctuate depending on the composition of political administrations and public interests. But the payroll tax that funds national “entitlements” such as Social Security will never go down. This is why I condemn the pundits and columnists who blithely note that Social Security can be “fixed” if we only raise payroll taxes a tiny bit. The other day it was Krugman and now here’s David Francis in the Christian Science Monitor:

But is the situation that gloomy? A number of economists argue it isn't. A hard look at the numbers suggests that Social Security isn't broken, only in need of minor adjustments.
. . . . . . .
Thus, if the country started tomorrow, workers would have to pay an extra 1.92 percentage points in payroll tax - or about $627 a year for the average wage earner.

Just another 2% please…last time, we swear!

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