yehudayona – However it turns out the increase (compared to last year) in the payroll tax is more significant than the other taxes that were increased (or rather, whose reducations were rolled back). The change as a percentage of disposable income was greater for the middle and lower class, than the affluent. While the affluent tend to fund investment, the less than affluent are the consumer. From a macroeconomic perspective, this was not a good idea.
Indeed, the whole idea of a payroll tax is probably unwise. It penalizes work and encourages people to avoid employment, and at the same time makes it especially expensive to higher poorly paid workers who barely do enough work to justify their employment. The only candidate who addressed this was Herman Cain with his proposal that would abolish payroll taxes and add a federal consumption (sales) tax.