General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: How Elizabeth Warren Made Expanding Social Security Cool [View all]staggerleem
(469 posts)Well, then, Mr. Kessler, howzabout we FLATTEN the Social Security tax, thusly -
EVERYBODY pays the same rate on EVERY DOLLAR they earn - no exceptions for "high earners"! But we leave the EMPLOYER contribution as is (i. e., set an upper limit, beyond which the employer no longer contributes), because the folks who make over $120,000 a year probably don't NEED the extra cash to retire on. But everyone gets the same employer contribution up to the limit. This would keep the system solvent pretty much FOREVER, without overburdening smaller businesses.
Oh, and BTW when the people on the right run around with their hair on fire yelling about how the SS trust fund will be totally depleted in the next 25 - 30 years ... THAT WAS THE PLAN! There was no SS trust fund until around 1980, when Pat Moynihan & President Reagan suddenly realized that the Social Security "python" would soon have to swallow the Baby Boomer "cow"! So, right around the time I started earning what (at the time) seemed like "REAL" money, the SS deduction was DOUBLED, to build the fund. Until then, the system was "pay as you go", and YOU paid for YOUR PARENT'S (or maybe Grandparent's) retirement. MY generation (ooh - that's catchy ... maybe I'll write a song!) was the first to pay for TWO GENERATIONS of retirees - and I'm fine with that. But the fund is SUPPOSED to deplete as we boomers die off!