Thank You George Takei & Robert Reich for your tireless efforts with the fight of our lives to defend Democracy. Myself@age66+08 mnths finally able to apply for my paltry amount & cannot comprehend the greed-infested bastards attempts to yank these safety-nets out from us.
The average age of the people considering SS cuts is what I find infuriating. They get the advantage of receiving SS, but want to take it away from those of us that have been paying into it but are years (decades) away from its benefits.
It's unconscionable that those making over the $176K cap don’t pay into Social Security. Instead of removing the cap to boost solvency, Republicans plan to cut benefits to protect their wealthy donors.
"Scrap the income cap on Social Security payroll taxes" – Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Social Security Trust Fund was created during FDR so it would pass Congress.
Congress can fund Social Security, Medicare for all, infrastructure, but repubs would rather suppress us for a cheap labor pool while Dems have no balls.
My vote- as if it mattered… keep the cutoff for the employer end of Social Security contributions- but completely remove the cap on the employee contribution. I don’t want to add a 6.2% cost to employers for wage raises above that cap when the employee contribution should be enough.
I posted about this the other day, why should son like Elon pay the exact same amount as someone making $150K per year? This makes no sense until you realize the millionaire club in Congress wrote the rules that way. Remove the CAP!!!!
I had to look it up. The cap is so low as to be absurd. Even doubling it would go a long way. Someone do the math and we'll meet in the middle somewhere. I'm no shill for the rich, and I could be swayed, but I feel there can be a compromise.
Republican will not remove the cap because their policy goal is to kill SS and make the Democrats look bad, instead making the quality of life better for those Americans that paid into SS for a lifetime.
Republican's were the robber barons who stole from the Social Security surplus and never paid it back. But yes the cap needs to be removed as the wealth gap continues to widen.
There's not a damned thing wrong with Social Security and Medicare that wasn't caused by Republican lobbyism, sabotage and deregulation for the purposes of privatization and profit.
I know Trump will eliminate my military retirement, but if I did get it, I wouldn't mind at all a $ for $ reduction in social security. (Military retirement isn't huge, but it's enough).
If I can part with social security, people who have higher incomes or retirement than me can handle it
Or just put back the money the government stole from SS coffers for decades while leaving IOUs in their place. Thats the entire reason SE solvency is in question.
Agreed!! This is not a charity or grant or donation USA Govt giving its deserving citizens who have contributed their hard earned sweat money into SS contributions. Govt made ZILLIONS in interest and profits over the years. Why all this FUSS THREATS AND DECEPTION now when its time to pay. 😭😭😭
Yep. It's so obvious. Unfortunately, people who have absurdly large amounts of wealth tend to think that it's okay for them to benefit from society in every way, because they return a fraction of that benefit back to society by allowing Society to do some of what it could do better without them.
It’s an antiquated premise. Republicans don’t stand for anything, including fiscal restraint. See the debt incurred during the Trump, 45, administration.
Further, the moment a senior has money taken out of their wallet, a vote is forever lost.
Probably need to do both? Basically what Regan did or more. I would have given up my entire amount paid in if I could have diverted all my future funds into a 401k type plan when. In my 40s but not now!
I didn't even know there was a cap on SS tax until I made enough money to reach it. I just remember an October paycheck suddenly being larger, and was like "??". Combed over my pay stubs to notice SS tax was significantly less.
While the extra money was nice, I didn't like what it represented.
Good for you for seeing this. Those who have benefited the most by the system in place, should expect to pay the most to see that the system is sustained. That's the basis for a progressive tax. It doesn't seem so unreasonable, does it?
The problem is The Rich 1) don't need Social Security, and 2) pay big bribes to the fascist bastards. So under their Fuhrer's second reign of terror their planning on another massive transfer of wealth from the poor- and middle-classes to The Rich just like last time.
Yes yes yes. I was paid above the cap toward the end of my career, and never needed that extra money in November and December. Not like a single income senior needs their prescriptions. Easy fix.
As I understand it, Social Security benefits are determined by how much you contribute to the program during your working life. Removing the contribution cap w/o removing the benefits cap would be a fundamental change in the program's principles. Not that it couldn't be done. But would it be fair?
That's a fair point. The contribution cap for 2025 is $176,100 annual income, and the benefit cap for 2025 $4018 monthly. I would think that a contribution cap increase, to say $200,000 to maintain system solvency, could probably still tolerate a modest benefit cap increase.
The cap can be raised without eliminating it (FDR made the tax regressive intentionally, so "no damn politician can ever scrap my social security program").
I agree and I think they want it to be 75. I believe I read that in the 2025 book by the heritage foundation. I have to be 66 and 10 months for retirement. I am worried they will change the age for me. I am also worried about my kids having to work so long. I knew if a dem got in I was safe.
This is absolutely the solution. It isn't that they are dumb and don't know this. They're not looking for a solution. They want rid of it so we will be poor with no safety net.
Its about making us weaker and less resistant.
I'm even willing to meet them part way. The cap should be the President's salary. The President should set an example for all workers that he pays in on his entire salary. Of course, there should be no cap at all but this the US where the wealthy rule.
Useful, but not nearly enough. The aggregation of wealth into the wealthiest fraction of society is accelerating. Tax and spend can’t fix that. There has to be a correction of the relationship between wage labour and capital. Working people need a bigger share of the wealth their labour generates.
that wouldn’t work ( I mean they DO need to pay more to the irs) as the SS fund is paid for by payroll tax…. With the cap in place they pay proportionally less than those below the cap. For instance 100% of my pay has payroll tax…. Where as someone making 400k à year has about 25% of their pay is.
Exactly. The media NEVER discusses this possibility. Instead they report and often insist that the GOP benefit cuts, which they call "tweeks," are the only solution. The just cares huge amounts of water for the GOP on this issue.
I agree with this. The minimum should have been increased with inflation at a minimum. Instead, the equivalent buying power amount collected through the tax has decreased over time.
here in Canada, Canada Pension Plan and Quebec Pension Plan -- same! there's an annual cap on it that makes no sense.
Given how common shares are as part of a pay packet, ding personal cap-gains and divs for FICA/CPP/QPP, too! The rates are too low to be burdensome, really they are.
i was sent my benefit statement for next year. they raised it $200 cola. then gave the whole raise to medicare so i will actually be receiving $100 a month less this year
If the strongest, richest country in the world doesn't support the most vulnerable people within their community then that country not only has no heart, soul, morality nor Christianity but lacks compassion, understanding and decency & I'm very glad I will never ever go there!
The most gratifying thing to me has been watching people from other countries learn about the American Healthcare system for the 1st time.
It’s like they walked in on America beating its wife.
And the news is America’s drinking buddy, saying, “You don’t understand, she was being a bitch!”
Not many years ago, Congress held a contest for business school students on how to fix social security. Harvard won. Their proposal was simple: ELIMINATE the cap, LOWER the tax rate from 6% to 4%, and RAISE benefits. The result was an immediate surplus in the program!!! Google it!
From the Cato Institute: “The answer is yes because the US government did not save any of the excess payroll taxes the Treasury Department collected when Social Security was running a surplus. Instead, the US government turned around and spent those payroll taxes on other things.”
The wealthy simply CANNOT afford to pay more than $10k. That's almost one-eighth of the cost of a Vovlo XC90! What? Are they supposed to drive the kids to soccer practice in an XC60?! That's COMMUNISM!
this is a no brainer. Why should those making up to$176,100 starting in 2025 pay 6.2% of their wages for ss when billionaires pay less than a thousand if a percent of their wages. It’s obvious they wrote the laws knowing that social security would go bankrupt. They only care about themselves.
A tax on financial transactions and a tax on Wall Street bonuses, with revenues dedicated to Social Security, would pay back to Social Security and its contributors what has been taken from them. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/post_b_845106
The cap does need to be raised. The reason that not all wages are subject to SS tax is because high income earners would get huge pensions, which is not what the program was designed for. Other changes would have to be made to accommodate that dynamic.
The contribution cap exists because there is a cap on benefits. It would be immoral (and sneaky) to tax someone beyond what they could eventually get in benefits, even if these people are wealthy. Plus it would undermine the argument that we paid for our benefits.
Comments
Thieving pieces of shit
rule number one seems to be
burn what's behind you ... 俳句
If the minimum retirement age is raised to 70, people will have to work until 74 for the same benefit.
They’re betting people will die before receiving full benefits.
"Scrap the income cap on Social Security payroll taxes" – Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Congress can fund Social Security, Medicare for all, infrastructure, but repubs would rather suppress us for a cheap labor pool while Dems have no balls.
We have people who don’t need social security making decisions about it. God I hope they all rot in hell
FISTFUCKIN' DIRTY CAT-AND-DOG-EATING COMMIES!"
IF you cap it can't it be pay period based?
If I can part with social security, people who have higher incomes or retirement than me can handle it
Not the AGE
Eat the rich.
Further, the moment a senior has money taken out of their wallet, a vote is forever lost.
Not gonna happen.
While the extra money was nice, I didn't like what it represented.
And if you feel like reforming the tax code, treat all income as earned income.
Happy holidays to all (and especially national treasure George).
Less if you expected the retiree to live on the principal too.
Its about making us weaker and less resistant.
Why is it more important to maintain a handful of people having more money than God than to improve the economic security of the working class?
Given how common shares are as part of a pay packet, ding personal cap-gains and divs for FICA/CPP/QPP, too! The rates are too low to be burdensome, really they are.
It’s like they walked in on America beating its wife.
And the news is America’s drinking buddy, saying, “You don’t understand, she was being a bitch!”
I think they can afford it.
https://bsky.app/profile/socialsecurityworks.org/post/3lcnyt7dy222y
A tax on financial transactions and a tax on Wall Street bonuses, with revenues dedicated to Social Security, would pay back to Social Security and its contributors what has been taken from them.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/post_b_845106
Honesty, if you can’t figure out how life works for the same amount you want others to live on. It shouldn’t be up to you.