Embattled GOP senator making political 'mistake for the ages': WSJ

The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board is rebuking Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) for backing a large payroll tax increase to fund Social Security, in an editorial titled “Roger Marshall Backs a Giant Tax Increase.”

At a debate this week in his tight race against Democrat Adam Hamilton, Marshall said of the payroll tax cap, now $184,500: “I would eliminate the cap altogether.” The board says that would be among the largest peacetime tax hikes in decades, adding a 12.4 percent marginal rate on income above the cap, shared by workers and employers.

It argues that even optimistic projections show the change wouldn’t come close to closing the program’s funding gap, and that it could push top marginal rates above 60% in some states. In the board’s view, Marshall is “trying to out-Democrat his Democratic opponent.” Hamilton said he’d raise the cap without eliminating it, and signaled more openness than Marshall to discussing the retirement age.

The board also points to Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno, who joined Elizabeth Warren on an op-ed this summer backing the idea, and wonders why Republicans are giving in. It says Marshall has fallen into a Democratic trap: by conceding a tax increase up front, Republicans give up leverage to demand reforms on benefits, retirement age and means-testing.

The board calls it “a political mistake for the ages” and asks voters “Why vote for Republicans” if the result is tax-and-spend policy dressed up as populism.

Marshall has faced a surprisingly close race amid a number of damaging stories, including his predatory financial attacks on patients of his medical practice.