If they went to $300k cap from the $173k cap?
75 years all good! If you make over $173k you can afford another $5-6k a year at 6.2% for $ over $173k-$300k They can afford it!
The social security cap in 2025 is $176,100, which is still a middle class income in many regions of USA. Many who make a little more than $176K need the extra cash in last quarter of year. Alternative is to create a “fiscal donut”, reinstate deduction after $400K/year, which would tax top 4% again.
Correct. However, there are alot of families who make between $176K and $400K who are swing voters…it’s why Candidate #JoeBiden promised no one who makes under $400K would get a tax increase
Increasing limit of FICA withhold, that’s a tax increase and many will vote republican instead of democratic
At the end of the day, we all just get to spend what’s left after taxes. I’ve had federal, state, FICA and Medicare taxes withheld-sometimes it was hard to make ends meet, sometimes easy. I’d expect a family with an income of 176K to be able to budget as efficiently as one making 175, or even 75.
This is a crock. How about we talk ALL people equally, establish a universal basic income and get rid of social security altogether? UHC and UBI from birth. That’s true socialism.
That would make it permanently solvent with COLA provisions. But then a nother wedge issue would be lost and reduce grievance on the campaign trail so.....🐶🤔🙄
I have been preaching this topic for ten years. Social Security and Medicare tax on all income... including billionaire loans using their stock values to create their living income.
Bernie Sanders has had a plan to secure the Social Security Trust Fund for generations to come. Bernie serves on the SS committee.
The taxable income limit would change to $250,000 a year, seniors would get a raise, the monies "borrowed" by republicans since Reagan would be returned.
SS is pay as you go. In 1983, Congress decided to increase SS payroll tax to build a trust fund to pay for baby boom retirees. The fund was invested in government debt. Investing in securities would be socialism. The $ stopped flowing into government debt so now income taxes fund the USG alone.
Absolutely. We should have taken out the cap 30 years ago. Exactly why Buffet said he pays a smaller percentage in taxes then his secretary it fixes the system instantly
Who is ready to stand up for the critical fight in 2025, a struggle to protect the future of Social Security and the benefits that so many physically disabled war veterans rely on for their well-being?
You’re too young to know. We used to tax the rich. There were NO billionaires. We had a Middle Class!!! Schools actually taught people!!!!
Repugnicans were here, but we had Walter Cronkite!
Tax RATE isn't the problem. Exclusions, exemptions, and loopholes ARE. PLUS, Wall Street Moguls get taxed at Capital Gains rate (lower) instead of Earned Income, on their bonuses, while Lottery winners get taxed at, you guessed it, EARNED Income rate.
401k’s took away employers ability to steal/underfund pension funds- so tax cuts were the answer by buying politicians with Dark Money! KEEP THE PEASANTS POOR n they’ll work hard to try to EARN us more money to steal!! Tax cuts good-keep minimum wage low-better! RAISES FOR POLITICIANS/RAISE MIN WAGE
If they remove the cap, we could end this bogus hand-ringing about how Social Security is running out of money. Start taxing the churches and we could even end child poverty and homelessness.
I expect we would see savings in Medicaid with lifting the cap on Soc Sec income!! I won't even go into the higher income folks paying their share!! Our tax laws are nonsensical!!
YES! Its bizarre the cap still exists with the exorbitant salaries so many have today, and all the whining Republicans do about SS running out of money. Its an obvious and painless solution, but what fun would it be to be a Republican if you couldn't inflict pain on the poor, the old, and the weak?
A more blunt instrument would be to tax capital gains on the same schedule that’s used to tax wage labor. Why should the ownership class enjoy preferential tax rates?
End social security all together. It’s just a pool of money for the government. You’d better off investing that money yourself but then you have be responsible and accountable
“Après moi le déluge! is the watchword of every capitalist and of every capitalist nation. Hence Capital is reckless of the health or length of life of the labourer, unless under compulsion from society.”
—Karl Marx
As someone who would have to pay more in taxes if this change were implemented, I FULLY SUPPORT THIS. Paying taxes is the most fundamental way of supporting the ideals of this country, and supporting the common good.
Tax the rich sounds good but is very difficult to do. So many loopholes and ways of avoiding taxes, for example, living by borrowing money from yourself rather than cashing in assets, so no capital gains. That’s why Warren and others advocate a 2% tax on assets.
💯 Agree. I never understood why they capped the amount of earnings that could be taxed. I suppose having the cap on the amounts paid in would cap the amount of payouts as well.
I agree with that so much! Why stop taking social security out of paychecks when you hit $168,000. Have no limit on the income! To me this is an easy fix to prevent SS from running out of money! I must be missing something!
Every time the Dems got the presidency; this issue is put under the carpet likewise for arresting the elected officials who participated in the January plot to put the orange buffoon in charge....
Lower the Social Security tax rate to 3% for income under $100K. Tax $100K to $10M at 5%. Then figure out how much to tax income over $10M to keep SS solvent for 75 years.
I agree, but…a lot of the super-rich don’t earn much W-2 income and still won’t be paying social security tax. So there needs to be a way to go after investment and partnership income as well.
God knows social security is almost empty, and neither side has done a thing to fix it. Get on that!
Social security should never be taxed at any age regardless of how much you earn through employment. Widows should be entitled to receive both their deceased spouse’s and their own social security which is what throws many widows (majority widows are female) into financial despair.
Step one - put down the crack pipe. Step two - back away from it slowly...... The rich are the only ones who pay any taxes at all. 50% of people pay zero. Social Security is a Trust Fund - you pay in and then you take benefits out... it is a government pension plan for eligible participants. Duh
I'm not rich, and I pay federal and state taxes.
Yes, SS is a trust fund, but with fewer people paying into it nowadays, it won't remain solvent without help -- and the easiest, most efficient way to bolster the fund for the foreseeable future is to lift the cap altogether.
Nope - the simplest and easiest way to fix it is to delay the age which benefits start - like really a lot. There is no reason anyone should be relying on SS benefits to retire at 62. Crazy. You wanna go tax more for other reasons - open to discussion - but this is just a flat lie to the people.
How is it a lie?
While it's true that people CAN retire at 62, only two people among the dozens of retirement folks I know has done so - and they were so financially strapped they couldn't afford not to. I waited 'til 66, but was so beat up from an intensely physical job that I had no choice.
God's special people don't have to pay their way. God said so.
The Court of Koch declared in 2020 the special people don't have to follow the laws of the land.
I highly recommend everyone start a church to protect themselves from the coming Christo Fascism.
What if instead, all Americans talk to a tax specialist and arrange 340M people to learn how to evade paying taxes like Bezos and Musk ?
Trump’s government will fall at the moment he won’t receive any money. And if he doesn’t receive any money, all his billionaires friends won’t receive money either
Eliminate the withholding income cap and setting the maximum benefit on a reasonable Median Income metric will solve the problem. Also consider expanding the types of “earned” income subject to FICA withholding.
A simple fix, however the GOP wants to use the "Social Security is going to bankrupt" fake argument as a kudgel to destroy the safety net by funneling citizens earnings to their donors on Wall Street.
Actually a “donut hole” up to like 400k makes more political sense because people with relatively high current income pay pretty onerous taxes compared to the ultra wealthy
Hell, the rate of SS taxation should also increase for the wealthy. Take it to like 15% for everything above 5 million, including capital gains. That should help fund SS.
True, but with fewer people working and paying into SS, the fund will eventually run dry -- which is why ditching the cap (which I've been yelling about for the past 30 years) is the best way to shore up SS for the next 50 to 75 years.
I’m not an expert but this guy is: “Regardless of party affiliation, lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been aware of Social Security's precarious financial footing for 38 years, and they widely recognize that something needs to be done to shore it up.”
Maybe we should force government to use social security as intended and not as petty cash. I'm already paying thousands into a system I likely won't benefit from, why should I have to pay more because politicians don't spend within their means?
Comments
75 years all good! If you make over $173k you can afford another $5-6k a year at 6.2% for $ over $173k-$300k They can afford it!
Increasing limit of FICA withhold, that’s a tax increase and many will vote republican instead of democratic
Make Billionaires & Corporation pay their fair share into Social Security
About as likely as the kindly old man turning out to really be Santa and giving you a house in the suburbs.
Professional athletes income alone would solve the Social Security shortfalls.
The taxable income limit would change to $250,000 a year, seniors would get a raise, the monies "borrowed" by republicans since Reagan would be returned.
Repugnicans were here, but we had Walter Cronkite!
'Til there are no rich no more
All three points are disqualifying.
Oh, wait. They’re doing that now.
Wealth Tax Now
Mandatory Taxation
Requires EVERY organization to pay minimum tax, no exemptions/exceptions
Full Tax
-For-Profits
-Non-Profits
Tax ALL Gross-Income
Tax Real Estate
Tax Stocks/Bonds
Tax Loans on Wealth
Tax Vehicles/Jewelry
Mandatory Min Tax
—Karl Marx
Hmmm…
So simple.
God knows social security is almost empty, and neither side has done a thing to fix it. Get on that!
And capital gains that been converted to cash via low-interest loans.
Yes, SS is a trust fund, but with fewer people paying into it nowadays, it won't remain solvent without help -- and the easiest, most efficient way to bolster the fund for the foreseeable future is to lift the cap altogether.
While it's true that people CAN retire at 62, only two people among the dozens of retirement folks I know has done so - and they were so financially strapped they couldn't afford not to. I waited 'til 66, but was so beat up from an intensely physical job that I had no choice.
The Court of Koch declared in 2020 the special people don't have to follow the laws of the land.
I highly recommend everyone start a church to protect themselves from the coming Christo Fascism.
It makes so much sense, and cents.
How can we make it happen?
Maybe get organised here on BlueSky and start a pressure campaign on congress.
🤔
Trump’s government will fall at the moment he won’t receive any money. And if he doesn’t receive any money, all his billionaires friends won’t receive money either
And don't say your house.
MBM
It’s funded by our payroll taxes.
It’s not part of the general fund.