The Grouch Educates Facebook Friends on Payroll Tax Cuts and High Gasoline Prices

When I get on a roll, I get on a roll. I want to share a post that I had on Facebook with a few Facebook friends. Here is my initial post:

Who on Facebook knows the difference in payroll tax and income tax? Don't just hit LIKE. If you do, I'll assume you're a dumbass and don't know the difference. A simple yes or no comment will suffice.

And here are some comments from the peanut gallery: 

Bill: not trying to be a dumbass but isn't it payroll income tax? just askin!

Shonda: a little different actually.. im self employeed i do not pay a "payroll tax" however i pay the shit out of some icome taxes


Amy: Isnt the payroll tax paid by the employer?


Tonya: I know, Garp. There are several differences. For one, it's a flat tax

And now, ladies and gentleman, my eloquent reply to all of this:

Well, thanks for all the comments. Yes, Bill, it all does come from INCOME. It comes from income earned by all of us and confiscated by the gubment to fund all its wasteful gubment programs.

Shonda, if you are self employed like me, you still pay the tax. Instead of calling it payroll tax, they call it SELF EMPLOYMENT TAX. That used to and still does really piss me off. It seems like the gubment is punishing me for being self employed.

Amy, half of the payroll tax is withheld from the check of the employee (FICA), the other half must be matched by the employer.

Tonya, you are right. The payroll tax is a flat tax so to speak. The normal rate is 6.2 percent and when matched by the employer ends up being 12.4 percent. The other part is the Mediscare tax. I say Mediscare because for decades now Dimocrats have tried to frighten seniors by saying the Republicans are trying to take away their Social Security and Medicare. The Mediscare tax rate is 1.45 percent withheld from employees. When matched by the employer the overall rate is 2.9 percent. The Social Security tax has a cap. For 2012 it is $110100. It goes up every year. The payroll tax is a flat tax in that EVERYONE regardless of overall income pays the same tax rate.

In 2011, the gubment enacted the temporary payroll tax cut reducing the Social Security tax from 6.2 to 4.2 percent. This was supposed to be a "temporary stimulus" for the floundering economy. The problem with this "solution" is that Social Security is solely funded by the Social Security tax. By reducing the rate from 6.2 to 4.2 percent, the Obama administration has effectively reduced funding to Social Security by almost one third. Last December there was a big argument in congress about extending the payroll tax cut. The same Dimocrats that accused the Republicans of trying to do away with Social Security and Mediscare are now in favor of a tax cut that reduces Social Security receipts by 1/3.

The Dimocrats rammed this extension through to February 2012 by insinuating that Republicans were against tax cuts and wanted to raise taxes. Now they want to extend the payroll tax cut to the end of the year. Of course in their rhetoric they never mention the 1/3 reduction in Social Security fund receipts.

Gasoline prices are going up. Hussein Obama says that this is good news and is a sign the economy is recovering. He also says extending the payroll tax cut is a good idea and the increase in disposable income will offset the rise in gas prices. At the same time, he refuses to allow the Keystone pipeline to be built and refuses to lift the moratorium on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Both of these measures would have the immediate effect of creating jobs and reducing oil prices. Obama would rather just keep the payroll tax cut and otherwise do nothing. Anyone with half a brain can easily deduce that the president's approach won't do a damned bit of good toward strengthening the economy.

So when your gasoline prices hit $5.00 per gallon, just think how happy your president is about all of this and just think how generous he has been gutting Social Security so you can have some extra spending money for gasoline.

There are a bunch of loons here on Facebook that really believe this guy is a GREAT president. They run around bashing the evil Republicans for trying to do away with their precious Social Security and Mediscare. They also tout him as being FOR THE WORKING MAN as he sits on his ass and happily watches gasoline go to 5 dollars per gallon. Now that you know the whole story about payroll taxes and payroll tax cuts, perhaps the next time you hear one of these loons supporting Barack Hussein Obama, you might take a moment or two to straighten them out. Truth and facts can be a real bitch when you're trying to defend a bald faced lie!

Oh, GROUCH! You've done it again!