Payroll Tax Delenda Est

I’ve been keeping an eye on an idea that seemed to be gaining traction a week ago: suspending the payroll tax to stimulate the economy. The latest entries, from Dean Zerbe in Forbes:

Another idea that has been talked about in Washington and would help every small business’ cash flow is a payroll tax holiday for employers. Unfortunately, it hasn’t shown up in the Democrats’ stimulus proposals.

Jonah Goldberg:

The best stimulus might be to trim – or temporarily eliminate – the payroll tax. That would put money in the hands of the people who need it – and know best how to spend it. But that would be “too ideological” because it rejects the assumption that government knows best, and it would reward taxpayers, not politicians.

Giving people a temporary and full breather from the payroll tax is interesting because it comports with a long-held supply-sider theory: if people had the money being taken by the government wagged in their faces, they’d be shocked, and support lower taxes.