And as regards the UI comparison, wouldn't the cost of FUTA/SUTA be more transparent to people if the taxes found their way to peoples' paychecks and had to be paid to the federal/state agency directly on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis?Everything has a cost. It's no different than the SVB bailout and market assets up to par value above their current fair market value.
I view the pre-existing condition similar to an unemployment insurance.
The general argument against doing this is convenience and simplicity. It's far easier to deal with a relatively small number of employers than a much larger number of employees. And I totally get that. But the upshot of it is that it's yet another cost that we've taken labors to hide from people.