Video: Matthews admits Obama tax plan is welfare

(By Ed Morrissey, Hot Air) - In a backhanded, passive way, of course, but Chris Matthews concedes that Haley Barbour gave the “right answer” on Barack Obama’s tax plan. Barbour told Matthews that refundable tax credits to people who pay no taxes amounts to welfare, and Matthews challenges him by saying that even the lowest-income workers pay “payroll tax” — meaning FICA (Social Security). Barbour responds:



According to Matthews, Obama intends to subsidize FICA payments through refundables, making Social Security cost-free or close to it, depending on income levels. As Barbour notes, that makes Social Security something very different than the pension plan it has been since its inception. That turns it into a welfare program on a massive scale, something FDR warned against when he created the program during the Depression.

In fact, it turns Social Security into a massive wealth-redistribution system rather than a pension plan.

In the end, Matthews can only smirk and admit Barbour is right. Why the smirk? Because Matthews is pretty sure that it won’t make any difference at this point.