The media scores the debate over the reduction in payroll taxes as a victory for Democrats. That may be true, depending upon how you assess the intelligence of the general population. The Republicans are either standing on principle or downright politically stupid, depending on your view.
The Senate passed a two-month extension with Republican Senator support. No matter how ridiculous a two-month extension might seem, Republicans in the Senate supported it. Now House Republicans are holding out for a one-year extension. One wonders whether the Republican leaders communicate with each other. As a result Republicans have painted themselves into a corner that is already being marketed by Democrats as “Republicans against tax cut for middle-class.” It is political clumsiness like this that makes the Republicans deserving of the name “stupid party.”
The entire debate over the “tax cut” is political theater. Only George Orwell can be proud of the doublespeak in play. What is going on has nothing to do with a tax cut. It is merely another raid on the Social Security Trust fund. Trillions have been “borrowed” from this fund already with no hope of ever being paid back (at least in dollars that will purchase anything approximating what they did at the time the fund was raided). As a result, the fund is insolvent.
Even without this payroll tax extension, the Social Security fund is barely able to pay its current obligations. Shortly, it will be unable to do so. With the passage of the tax extension, the demise of the fund is hastened.
Once again, the Social Security trust fund is being raided to enable government to spend on other programs. Investors Business Daily has an editorial on this chicanery. In it, they conclude:
… the tax cut will be achieved by taking $120 billion from the Social Security “trust fund.”
Instead of getting rid of a bureaucrat or a thousand, the idea is to simply raid the Social Security trust fund one more time, hastening the day it goes bust.
The mainstream media looks at these shenanigans as a sporting event. It is a contest between two teams, the Repubs and the Dems. Media coverage is in terms of who is winning the political game. The reality is that the people of the country are losing, regardless of which “team” wins. This exploitation and plunder dare not be covered by the media.
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