Trump Says He May Suspend Payroll Tax Himself

President Trump said this morning that he may suspend the payroll tax himself as part of his administration’s efforts to help the economy after the coronavirus shutdown, after the idea faced opposition in Congress in talks on the next relief bill.

“Well I may do it myself,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News. “I have the right to suspend it, and I may do it myself - I have the absolute right to suspend the payroll.”

I am all for tax cuts, and a broad-based tax cut such as the payroll tax is worth cheering for. However, the cuts need to be matched with cuts in government spending. Otherwise, the tax cut will be taken out of the hides of Americans in other ways, through other taxes or via price inflation as the Fed prints money out of thin air and delivers it to the government to bid for goods in competition with Americans.

-RW