Dick Lugar (R-IN) has been a Senator for so long, he's lost touch with the way things work outside the Senate cloakroom. Lugar called for the House to pass the Senate's bill that extends the current payroll tax rate by two months because it was "best for the country". Yet as The Right Sphere reports, that will cause huge problems for the businesses who have to implement it. A little common sense would show why. Businesses that calculate payroll taxes do so with accounting payroll software. It takes time for these non-trivial changes to software and business practices to be implemented. A payroll tax switchover is already cooked in to most accounting packages, so that the planned payroll tax changes will happen automatically when current law would have them change (Jauary 1). Because payroll software needs accuracy, any significant alteration will take weeks to plan and execute, passing the window for the extension. As Rep Renee Ellmers (R,NC02) said in her press release:
Last week we passed a bill here in the House that extends the payroll tax cut for a full year. But instead of passing the House bill, or another bill which extended the payroll credit for a year, the Democrats in the Senate opted for a meager two month extension…that's the definition of uncertainty! The Senate refuses to do the job they were elected to do and is being irresponsible. They have not even passed a budget in over 950 days and now are kicking the can down the road again by only extending the payroll tax for a mere two months. A two month payroll tax extension is a disgrace. Americans have enough uncertainty with their jobs and homes. Senator Reid is kicking them while they're down with this proposal.
Senator Lugar has ceased to understand the needs of Indiana, and should yield the floor to a new generation.