>THE DEAL TO EXTEND THE PAYROLL TAX CUT IS YET ANOTHER STRAW ON THE CAMEL’S BACK
By Ian Linker
February 15, 2012
So, House Republican leaders have agreed to extend the payroll tax cut extension for the rest of the year without offsetting the extension with spending cuts. This sweetheart is one more straw straining the camel’s back.
The so-called leaders will say that politically they were cornered. They’ll say, with the Democrats in control of the Senate and a Democrat sitting in the White House, we had no choice. They’ll say at least we avoided a tax increase. They’ll say this is an election year and with 160 million workers subject to a payroll tax increase if we let the cut expire at the end of February, the consequences would be far too costly. Much of this is true. But man up. What is truly at stake, and what seems to be lost on every one who signs onto this deal, is America’s long-term future.
We are at a crossroads in this country. Do we want to shrink the size of government to return it to its Constitutional constraints? Do we want to get this economy moving in the right direction for the long term that will again make us the envy of the world? Do we want to stop mortgaging our children’s future and kicking our problems down the road? Or do we want to drive off the cliff with our foot on the accelerator? Or, to be fair, do we want to take our foot off the gas and let our momentum take us over the cliff?
So Congress wants to extend the payroll tax cut? Fine, but do so in a fiscally responsible manner that will not jeopardize our fragile economy. Do so in a manner that will not add to our staggering nearly $15.5 trillion debt. Put simply: the government needs to figure out a way to end its profligate ways, make real and durable spending cuts, balance the budget, and pay down the debt or before long we will be looking at a big fat Greek-style austerity.
There is no question the middle class deserve tax relief and should have tax relief. But the tax code needs systemic reform that will simplify the code, facilitate long-term economic growth, create millions of private-sector jobs, and expand the tax base to ensure that everyone is paying taxes, who should be paying taxes. Tax reform will give the middle class and all taxpayers much needed relief and facilitate strong economic growth.
Our representatives in Washington must stop playing politics and must start acting on principle. Every deal struck is one more straw added to the camel’s back. Perhaps the cost of each straw is nominal. But in the aggregate, the straws are beginning to have an effect – and it ain’t pretty. The camel’s back is beginning to weaken. Each straw pushes us closer to a point of no return. Each straw is heaped on without addressing the main issues: spending reform, tax reform, entitlement reform, and regulatory reform. Each straw takes us farther and farther away from our goal: to restore America as the shiny city on the hill for future generations.
Ian Linker is an attorney and a former Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from New Jersey.