Sensors in the inner ear can feel the pull of gravity. In zero gravity environments, such as outer space, the lack of gravity makes it difficult for humans to determine “which way is up”. On the International Space Station all of the modules have an “up” orientation and writing on the walls point in that same direction. Doing this assists the astronauts in determining which way is up.

After reading that the President was urging Congress to not let the payroll tax cut expire in December I was forced to ask myself “which way is up?”. The payroll tax cut is a reduction in the payroll taxes that employees must pay—it dropped from 6.2% to 4.2% this year. The President stated that if the payroll tax is allowed to increase back to where it was prior to this year that “middle class families are going to hit with a tax increase at the worst possible time.” In thinking through the President’s statement I am stricken with a sense of hermeneutic vertigo.

The 6.2% tax that must be paid by the employee goes to Social Security. Social Security was sold—and still is sold to the American population when convenient—as a savings plan for retirement. If that is the case then how can saving less be seen as a tax reduction and being forced to save more as a tax increase? Linguistic vertigo! The whole debate over whether to increase or decrease the payroll tax puts to the test idea that Social Security contributions reside in some inviolable account. If we can nonchalantly reduce our retirement savings in 2011 by 33% it would appear that the taxes collected by the federal government under the auspices of the 6.2% payroll deduction probably go to fund the federal government. Hmmm, wonder whether that is what FDR had in mind.

Some estimate that reducing the payroll taxes boosted workers take home pay by 120 billion. If that is the case then why not reduce it another 2 percentage points to 2.2% and put another 240 billion in our pockets, Mr. President? I am quite sure that American’s could use another 240 billion right now. Of course, when the time came to increase it back to 6.2%—the rate it has been at since 1990—then we would probably have one of the biggest tax increases in recent history. Once again, our pitiful English language seems incapable of expressing fully how saving more for retirement is a bad thing. Conversely, reducing our federally mandated forced savings rate does not seem the responsible thing to do for our country’s long term fiscal health either. Political vertigo, maybe.

So I am left to look for some coherent writing on our walls. Like an astronaut recently blasted in to space I am struggling to figure which direction is up. If Social Security is simply a tax then I am all for giving Americans a tax break in perpetuity. But if this tax break is actually impacting my savings account then I would like to know what the impact will be to my account. We have been told for years that we did not save enough. Is our Commander-in-Chief now backing away from that sentiment—at least temporarily?

If I agree with the President that we should keep the employee tax reduction in place for another year am I making that determination based on what is good for our country long term or is this truly just a short term placebo for a much larger problem? To be fair, both Democrats and Republicans alike supported the idea of the payroll tax reduction and its proposed extension. But as the leader of our country—which includes our space program– I am hoping for some clear direction from our President on “which way is up” in this debate. The writing I see now on the walls is illogical and incoherent and thus of little help.