In a nation that prides itself on fair play and equal opportunity, it seems incongruous that people with wealth-based income — interest, dividends, capital gains, rent — are excused from paying Social Security (traditionally 12.4 percent) and Medicare taxes (2.9 percent) on that income. Equally odd, they do not pay Social Security tax on wages above $110,100. Shouldn’t these taxes be paid on all income? Taxing the “earned” and not the “unearned” seems rather un-American, doesn’t it?Now wait for the sharp reaction from the paid shills who are the most ardent posters on this blog.
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Jun 6, 2012
The Wealthy Get A Free Ride
From a letter to the editor published in Sunday's New York Times:
Social Security is not a general tax. It is a tax for a specific purpose, retirement/disability. It is a forced system for people to provide for themselves when they get older/disabled. It is a base line retirement system, enough to live off of. It would go against the purpose of the agency to make wealthy people pay more, if we do that then it just turns into welfare.
ReplyDeleteagreed.
ReplyDeleteUnless SSA wants to provide benefits commensurate with what is paid in, then any increase in taxation on "wealthy" individuals is essentially a welfare system.
I have no problem with welfare, but let's be upfront when we give people money.
I agree with the first two comments.
ReplyDeleteYes, we need to raise the maximum tax base, so that 90% of the taxpayers are paying in at that rate.
To tax all income above that, returns only fefeen cents for every dollar paid in.
That is an inequitable return for the higher-paid, and makes this system look more like welfare, than a self-financed system.
Don Levit
There are no paid shills that post here.
ReplyDeleteThese shills do it all for free.
By the way, extremely high tax rates on extremely high incomes used to be common practice, and for good reason. It prevents wealth inequality and promotes capital investment.
Ironically, the same old, conservative ninnies - who want to return to an era where women stayed in the kitchen and all the black people lived on the other side of the tracks - don't want the old, conservative fiscal policies that made 1950's and 1960's America so prosperous.
How does taxing everyone at the same rate on their full income make SS a welfare system? That makes no sense. It is like labeling it socialism because it is unacceptable to rich people.
ReplyDeletePaying full FICA tax on your wages of $200,000 is no different, and no more welfare, than paying it on $100,000. People who pay more get a higher benefit under SS. At the same time, SS has always had a social component that gives a greater rate of return to those with low incomes who are least likely to save for their retirement. The FICA cap has been increasing every year withouit anyone saying it is welfare. Increasing the cap on FICA taxes does not change the nature of the program in any way, except making it more strong for the future.
how does one become a paid shill? i want that job.
ReplyDeleteYes tax the rich more. That's the Democrats answer to saving everything. How about cutting out the earned income tax credit and pay that to the Trust Fund. Why get money back when you haven't paid any taxes.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.american.com/archive/2007/november-december-magazine-contents/guess-who-really-pays-the-taxes
Someone needs to grow some and just force the removal of the FICA cap. It is ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteI agree with 10:54 AM, June 06, 2012 comments. I'm black. I do not understand why every election year poor white voters(some minorities too)vote republican. Perhaps strong religious beliefs but i doubt that.
ReplyDeleteI agree with 10:54 AM, June 06, 2012 comments. I'm black. I do not understand why every election year poor white voters(some minorities too)vote republican. Perhaps strong religious beliefs but i doubt that.
ReplyDeleteAnother twist: on average poorer Americans live a shorter lifespan than the rich who can afford better healthcare and typically don't break down their bodies by dig ditches all their lives.
ReplyDeleteThus, the poor get a much smaller return on their SS payments than do the rich...
Hahaha, Charles getting paranoid again.
ReplyDeleteThe tax is on wages, not income. If you want to tax the income, you need to be prepared to give them credit for that income when computing their benefits.
Of course, the best solution would be to scrap the entire notion that OASDI taxes are indeed for Social Security, roll it into the general tax law and on tax returns, those who obtain set break points of 40% of their income past the age of 62 and 70% of their income past the age of 62 would receive an additional tax credit to reduce most if not all tax liability. That would be entirely dependent on being able to tax all income as opposed to just wages.
(And yes, you need a short vacation Charles, fewer people than ever are posting and hardly any of them are shills. Just look at the login/visit history that is posted on the front page.)