Fixing Social Security

Gadabout has always taken interest in Social Security. As a young boy I recall my mother saying, “Social Security won’t be around when I retire.” Well, she was wrong. "Live it up, Mum!" Social Security is around, and it always will so long as we maintain a government.

The Federal Insurance Contributions (FICA) sets guidelines for employer and employee contributions for Social Security and Medicare. Both parties make payments of 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare: that equals 12.4 + 2.9 = 15.3%. That’s lots of cold hard cash, to be sure. The top income level for contributions in 2007 is $97,500; after that a person stops making payments. Some consider this ‘Regressive” arguing that higher wage earners dodge additional taxes. Others will take the position that is “progressive” since the amount deposited into FICA far exceeds what will be recouped in the out years. There is plenty of room for both punctilious pundits to square off on this issue--mostly until the end of recorded history.

The $97,500 cap is adjusted every year to flow with inflation, so at least the rich dodge that loophole.

Well, let’s talk about those 13 million illegal Mexicans running amuck and messing with our schools, hospitals and other government services. What happens if all those hard working Mexicans became Americans? I’ll tell you what will happen! They’ll start paying into Social Security--that’s what.

What happens if receipts into FICA exceed income to the system? Nothing, we’ll just fund it through taking on additional debt, increase retirement thresholds and freeze COLA levels. Remember, everybody dies at some point, so it is not an infinite problem.

Maybe it is time to rethink the cap on income levels to, let’s say, something like $250,000. Yeah, it might be an inflationary pressure, but the rich, in my opinion, need to pony up a bit more. I am certain that all of Rush Limbaugh’s fans wouldn’t like the idea much, but if they ever stopped to think about it, they are the people making less than $97,500 per year. Lemmings!

Want to save Social Security? Open the borders and tax the filthy rich!