Posted by
Always To The Right on Tuesday, November 04, 2008 10:42:19 AM
In a backhanded, passive way, of course, but Chris Matthews concedes
that Haley Barbour gave the “right answer” on Barack Obama’s tax plan.
Barbour told Matthews that refundable tax credits to people who pay no
taxes amounts to welfare, and Matthews challenges him by saying that
even the lowest-income workers pay “payroll tax” — meaning FICA (Social
Security).
According to Matthews, Obama intends to subsidize FICA payments
through refundables, making Social Security cost-free or close to it,
depending on income levels. As Barbour notes, that makes Social
Security something very different than the pension plan it has been
since its inception. That turns it into a welfare program on a massive
scale, something FDR warned against when he created the program during
the Depression.
In fact, it turns Social Security into a massive wealth-redistribution system rather than a pension plan.
In the end, Matthews can only smirk and admit Barbour is right. Why
the smirk? Because Matthews is pretty sure that it won’t make any
difference at this point.
Buzz up