Ramesh Ponnuru and Reihan Salam believe Republicans need to focus more attention on policies that will attract support from working-class voters.
In an article for the latest National Review, they discuss the impact of that approach on the tax debate:
The tax that falls most heavily on lower-middle-class voters is the payroll tax. Cutting any tax is a tough proposition in today’s fiscal circumstances. But a tax reform that reduces the burden of payroll taxes on young working-class voters who are trying to start families is well within reach: It would merely require increasing the child tax credit and applying it against both income and payroll taxes, replacing the lost revenue by reducing tax breaks. Among the most appealing targets are the state-and-local-tax deduction and the mortgage-interest deduction, both of which mainly benefit affluent households in high-cost, high-tax states.
Ponnuru made a similar points during a 2009 interview with Carolina Journal Radio, as documented below on CarolinaJournal.tv.
