Why the Republicans are Right on Payroll Taxes

News flash: the rich are getting richer, the rest of us are sucking wind. What should Washington D.C. do about it?

The Democrats want to raise taxes on the wealthiest 1%, the Republicans cry "class warfare" and decry any tax on "job creators". Meanwhile, our deficit is enormous and growing nearly $4b per day. How can we square these differing views?

How about a surtax on the rich, as the Dems have proposed. But, these lucky folks could recoup their tax dollars if they really do create jobs...anybody who employs Americans should be able to claim a tax credit of 1% of U.S. payroll against their personal income tax. This credit should be distributed to shareholders for publicly traded companies.

The net effect would be similar to a Republican proposal to reduce employers' share of payroll taxes, but doing it my way would make it more palatable for Democratic constituencies. It would also provide more of a boost to the economy than the Democrats current proposal to extend the payroll tax cut for employees into next year. That tax cut doesn't help the unemployed one whit, while giving the cut to employers encourages them to hire jobless Americans. While folks with jobs would certainly appreciate a tax cut, our biggest problem is folks without jobs! If we could fix that, the rest would take care of itself. Tweet