The payroll tax has proved to be an effective way to redistribute a small amount of money from the rich to the poor and therefore we should seize every opportunity to undermine it; if this makes Social Security less solvent, all the better! (Summarizing “Our Enemy, the Payroll Tax”))
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The payroll tax, which regressively taxes income flatly only up to a maximum income threshold, so that working people can pay to supplement other people’s retirement is a /what/ again? A redistribution from the rich to the poor? Where did you get that idea?
Of course you are right — but the nonsense I wrote is an accurate summary of Douthat’s (inane) argument.
FWIW I support the exact opposite of what Douthat wants: I’d like to take the cap off the payroll tax.
As Sadly No! put it recently: “‘Shorter’ concept created by Daniel Davies and perfected by Elton Beard. We are aware of all Internet traditions.™”