Thread by @majorityfm

#AMQuickie

Trump makes a big deal about suspending payroll taxes during the pandemic -- meaning that workers got to skip at least one regular subtraction from their take-home wage.

But new data shows that when the tax man comes knocking in 2021, things are going to be bleak.

Instead of abolishing the tax, Trump just deferred it.

The Treasury department has indicated that employers will be on the hook to pay back the postponed payroll taxes in 2021, meaning that they'll be taking even more out of workers’ paychecks than they would have normally.

What Trump’s cuts are doing then is giving a short-term boost to paychecks, which will certainly be appreciated by some, at least until it’s all owed in a year.

After the election, of course.

To make matters worse, guess what payroll taxes usually fund: Social Security and Medicare.

So in one move, Trump is putting stress on the budgets of essential services for just a temporary relief to workers.

If Trump eventually decides to cut the tax, it will give most workers a bit of a bump in take-home pay--but at the cost of those same essential services.

The GOP has been trying to gut those programs for years, so this is the perfect plan to add more uncertainty to the mix.