Kent Conrad actually said...

We also increase the payroll tax very modestly, from the current combined rate of 12.4 percent to 13.4 percent over 10 years.

There is a societal cost that is sort of hidden, isn't there?

It lifts the bottom. It asks those of us at the top to take a little less of an increase than we might have expected.

People are smart, and if you just share with them the basic information, a lot of people will make a good decision.