Spitzer: How will the U.S. ever save $4 trillion?

Today’s NUMBER OF THE DAY is $820 billion.

That’s the cost of the deal the President cut last night—excluding middle class tax cuts.

$700 billion goes to rich Americans making more than $250,000, and $120 billion goes to income tax cuts that will go to all workers, because the deal calls for a 2% cut in Social Security withholding for 2011. The total additional deficit caused by the deal is more than $4 trillion.

Wasn’t last week’s bipartisan deficit commission that made all the hard choices going to save exactly that amount?

For more on the story…

After years of pledging to roll back the Bush-era tax cuts, Obama changed his tune and extended the cuts for two years. Watch this video.

(CNN Wire) – In addition to the extension of the Bush tax cuts, all employed Americans will immediately see more money in their paychecks because the deal calls for a 2% cut in Social Security withholding for 2011.   This goes substantially beyond the Bush tax cuts.

The package would also offer workers a 2% payroll tax holiday next year, so that instead of paying 6.2% on their first $106,800 of wages, they will only have to pay 4.2%. The White House estimates the measure would cost $120 billion.

For a worker making $60,000/year, it means he or she will take home an additional $1200 next year.  For someone earning at or above the $106,800 Social Security cap, paychecks will increase by a total of $2136 over the year.

This proposal is essentially a stimulus gift to workers, but one that will further undermine the long term viability of the Social Security Trust Fund.