July 20, 2009 09:25 PM UTC

Confused About Polis: Payroll Tax on the Middle Class, But Not a Millionaires' Tax?

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• by: davidsirota

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)

I’m not exactly thrilled to see Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) using his platform to try to derail health care reform and potentially end the best chance for universal health care in American history. But more than “not exactly thrilled,” I’m confused.

I seem to remember Jared campaigning aggressively in support of a single-payer health care system. I seem to remember ass-cheek-bearing campaign ads about his commitment to that. I also seem to remember him saying he supported a payroll tax increase to pay for that single-payer system. All of those memories I recall with fondness, because that’s basically what I support.

So here’s what I don’t get – how can Jared say he specifically opposes the Obama health care plan because it raises taxes? The very plan Jared campaigned for office on raises taxes, too – and it raises taxes on the very same businesses he says he’s worried about. In fact, the way I read it, Jared supported a tax that probably would have hit far more middle-income businesses than the Obama plan, which would tax only those citizens/businesses making more than a quarter-million dollars a year. Indeed, the plan Jared says he’s opposed to on tax grounds would only levy new taxes on 2 percent of all Americans and 5 percent of all small businesses, whereas the plan Jared campaigned for would have imposed “a 4.75% Medicare payroll tax” for all employers, regardless of income.

Now, I guess it’s possible Jared’s opposition to a millionaire’s tax could be based on the tax’s breadth – in other words, I guess it’s possible Jared wants to see more middle-income businesses pay higher taxes as he originally campaigned for, rather than just the wealthiest citizens and businesses. That would explain his opposition to the Obama health care plan in a way that would at least be consistent with his campaign promises and platform…except, it wouldn’t be consistent with his new lament, which is that the Obama health care plan raises taxes.

So I’m back to being confused. Jared campaigned on a promise to try to raise taxes to pay for universal health care, and is now opposing the Obama health care plan because it would raise taxes to pay for universal health care. That position suggests a massive flip flop by Boulder’s newest congressman.