Kansas Crimson

REPORTER: Question about payroll taxes. If you rescind the payroll tax, how do you take care of Social Security?

TRUMP: We take it out of the general fund. And what we will be doing if we do that, we'll get it approved in that case by Congress. And will take money from other places other than we will not take it from Social Security...We're going to have tremendous growth for you. Take a look at what is happening here. Next year, unless somebody comes in.

In short, he is going to do away with the dedicated funding stream for Social Security (and Medicare), but he’s going to “protect” them because magic. He is going for the great golden conservative dream out of the 1930s—the end of the most successful social-welfare system in the history of the world—and he’s saying flat-out how he’s going to do it. These comments should be hung around the neck of every Republican office-seeker across the land like a big old dead raccoon. This includes everyone from the candidates for the fish and wildlife commission in East Jesus all the way up to the aspirants for the U.S. Senate.

Walrus wrote: ↑Thu Aug 13, 2020 2:26 pm Doesn't matter who you put in office, social security is going the way of the dinosaur. We're so deep in debt and unlike the 1980s where we raised interest rates to repay some of the debt, that's not even possible now. No one should be counting on SS being there in the future.

NiceDC wrote: ↑Thu Aug 13, 2020 2:23 pm Yeah, this whole payroll tax thing is very confusing, especially since it's regressive tax, and every wage earner is paying into SS/Medicare, but something only half of wage earners (and maybe less now) pay into the general fund. So it's going to gut SS and Medicare. I get paid tomorrow, curious to see what my company did.

jfish26 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 13, 2020 2:31 pm

NiceDC wrote: ↑Thu Aug 13, 2020 2:23 pm Yeah, this whole payroll tax thing is very confusing, especially since it's regressive tax, and every wage earner is paying into SS/Medicare, but something only half of wage earners (and maybe less now) pay into the general fund. So it's going to gut SS and Medicare. I get paid tomorrow, curious to see what my company did.

Not to mention, it's just deferred! We're going to have a whole new kind of debt crisis out of this.

NiceDC wrote: ↑Thu Aug 13, 2020 2:33 pm

jfish26 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 13, 2020 2:31 pm

NiceDC wrote: ↑Thu Aug 13, 2020 2:23 pm Yeah, this whole payroll tax thing is very confusing, especially since it's regressive tax, and every wage earner is paying into SS/Medicare, but something only half of wage earners (and maybe less now) pay into the general fund. So it's going to gut SS and Medicare. I get paid tomorrow, curious to see what my company did.

Not to mention, it's just deferred! We're going to have a whole new kind of debt crisis out of this.

So, there is a lot of (possibly intentional) confusion on what's actually going to happen. Trump said he was going to forgive the outstanding deferment. What does that mean? I parsed it out as he's going to defer to the end of the year (which I think he can do), then forgive all that debt (which I think he can do). What I don't think he can do is basically eliminate the tax outright, so it sounds like this is just some sort of loophole.

NiceDC wrote: ↑Thu Aug 13, 2020 2:47 pm https://www.wsj.com/articles/trumps-pay ... 1597318890

Oh dang, just read up on WSJ's take, it sounds like he can't even forgive, and would require congressional approval to forgive.

Basically he's throwing a hand grenade into the budgets and hoping it works out.

NiceDC wrote: ↑Thu Aug 13, 2020 3:02 pm I assume the end goal was to destabilize SS to the point where it needs privatization. So it's closer to a dead man's switch than anything else. If Trump is not elected, SS is destabilized greatly, and the Dems have to scramble to keep stuff alive (and Dems in disarray ensues). If he is reelected, then privatization is the square goal.

I think the damage that Mnuchin has been doing (including latest round of COVID relief) is greatly unnoticed.

jfish26 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 13, 2020 3:10 pm

NiceDC wrote: ↑Thu Aug 13, 2020 3:02 pm I assume the end goal was to destabilize SS to the point where it needs privatization. So it's closer to a dead man's switch than anything else. If Trump is not elected, SS is destabilized greatly, and the Dems have to scramble to keep stuff alive (and Dems in disarray ensues). If he is reelected, then privatization is the square goal.

I think the damage that Mnuchin has been doing (including latest round of COVID relief) is greatly unnoticed.

Think about all the shit that's happening that we don't even know about.

seahawk wrote: ↑Fri Aug 14, 2020 10:30 am You wonder how long it's been since Pence was looking at meat packages in the grocery and sucking in his breath at the sticker shock. Seems like many families will already be cutting down on meat.