The White House just announced its intention to reduce the Social Security payroll tax by 2 percent, from its current 6.2% to 4.2%. This coming from a president who has made a career out of demonizing the Bush tax cuts.
Obama has been clobbering the American public on the head over the imprudence of maintaining the Bush-era tax cuts, which are set to expire at the end of the month. Obama has excoriated Republicans especially for wanting to maintain the Bush tax cuts. Republicans have consistently argued that all of the Bush-era tax cuts should be maintained because 1) equitable application of the tax code is imperative within a constitutional republic and 2) they are good for the economy.
It is very interesting how Obama operates. One minute he’s beating the American public up over tax cuts and the next minute he’s trying to gain public support with them.
This is a pathetic and immature way to lead a country that is in the midst of an economic depression.
Our president is in over his head. The American people know it and are rightfully beginning to lose their patience with Obama. This is a president whose entire senior economic team has resigned over the last 6 months and who, over the first 19 months of his presidency, added some $2.5 trillion to the national debt, in addition to enacting a new healthcare entitlement.
And so now after demagoguing the Bush tax cuts, Obama has shifted gears and is seeking to reduce payroll taxes — the very taxes that fund Social Security benefits. So what gives?
Is Social Security doing OK? Has it been deemed fiscally sound without anyone knowing? The answer is no. According to the Social Security & Medicare Board of Trustees’ 2010 Annual Report, Social Security is in the red by some $41 billion and will face compounding deficits as the baby boomers start to retire in 2014. When the baby boomers start collecting Social Security benefits, things are really going to start to unravel. In 2014, the number of Social Security recipients will exceed the number paying into the system. I bet even Joe Biden understands that Social Security is a “big f****** deal.”
And as far as Social Security’s Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund, it is now expected to run completely out of funds by 2018. The DI Trust Fund was previously projected to run out in 2020, but the auditors have moved its demise up by two years.
So after 22 months of labeling the Bush tax cuts as irresponsible, Obama now wants to lower taxes on an entitlement program that is insolvent? Is this president for real?
I think the nation is fast learning that Obama is a taxing dolt!
Matt O’Connor is a freelance writer and founder of Clarion Advisory, LLC, a media production company, and serves as the executive editor of Clarion Advisory.com, a website featuring political commentary and the continuous aggregation of national and international news covering politics and business. Prior to forming Clarion Advisory, Matt worked as a broker and vice president within a Fortune 250 company on the West Coast.