Inside the Latest Plan to “Bankrupt” and Privatize Social Security
President Donald Trump’s motivation behind a payroll tax holiday is not to help families through this crisis, but to set the stage for devastating cuts to Medicare and Social Security. And Democrats might end up helping him.
President Donald Trump and Steven Mnuchin participate in a video conference with representatives of large banks and credit card companies, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on April 7, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Doug Mills-Pool / Getty Images)
As tens of millions of Americans face long-term unemployment, instead of advocating for policies that would help those feeling the greatest impact of the crisis, Donald Trump is now pushing for a payroll tax holiday to fully eliminate the 7.6 percent tax.
The payroll tax, split evenly between workers and employers, is hardly a progressive way to fund a welfare state — but Trump’s plan would set up an obvious and destructive policy trap that Democrats would be fools to fall into.
Nearly forty million people have lost their jobs, and the Congressional Budget Office estimates that unemployment will remain above 9 percent through next year. Because a payroll tax cut only impacts those still receiving a paycheck, the jobless would be completely left out. Enacting a stimulus program that provides them with no benefit is simply an act of malice against low-wage workers who have been most impacted by this crisis.
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