“This bill shows that Social Security is fully affordable—as long as the wealthiest among us pay their fair share,” said one advocate.
Legislation recently introduced by a pair of Democratic U.S. lawmakers to save Social Security for generations to come would extend the vital social program’s lifespan by at least 75 years, according to a federal analysis published Tuesday.
This isn’t a wealth tax, it’s a tweak to income tax.
The rich don’t gain wealth through income.
Capital gains should be taxed at least as hard as income.
I agree. Politicians like to throw in the term “wealth” to create class division and evoke enough emotion to help push their agendas thru. Also, the 400k universal threshold doesn’t make a whole lot of sense…someone making 400k in Mississippi is much better off than someone making 400k in California. What’s considered a ‘fair share’ is hard to quantify, but definitely taxing capital gains equally is a good place to start.
The idea behind social security is a forced time phased retirement program. The cap for input of money serves to cap the withdrawal later in years. If the wealthy put in a significantly larger amount while working they will be entitled to a proportionally larger about of withdrawal later. We’re just robbing peter to pay paul here and kicking the issue down the road.
A real solution would be to produce a margin that is invested in a total market fund that would eventually create self sustaining returns to both: pay out current withdrawals as well as grow to match inflation and population growth. But that’s not going to happen.
TLDR: The ponzi scheme will continue.
If the wealthy put in a significantly larger amount while working they will be entitled to a proportionally larger about of withdrawal later.
Why?
The wealthy put in more money towards taxes that go to other things which everyone benefits from equally. The wealthy don’t get better roads just because they pay a higher tax rate. Why should they have uncapped benefits from social security? Retired folks being able to live off social security is a benefit to all of society, it’s not meant to keep people at a high income with no other inputs. The wealthy can benefit from social security just like everyone else, and payouts should be capped, but they’re currently benefiting from society at a greater rate pre-retirement so that should be reflected in their contributions today. If they want to be wealthy in retirement, then they have the means to invest and supplement their future social security earnings.
Edit: I just realized some of my statements conflicted a little. My point is just that tax contributions are not expected to deliver a 1:1 benefit to the contributor for the service that is collecting tax. You don’t put in $1 towards roads and get $1 back of road use, or $2 towards schools and get $2 of education back. We all contribute for the betterment and support of society at large. The wealthy can afford to contribute proportionally more. They are getting the benefits of their taxes back in greater proportion than the rest of us by way of their wealth, they do not make that money purely off individual effort. Supporting retirees ensures they are not a drain on society’s resources and it’s important that the wealthy contribute enough to make this possible.
This is primarily where the moral argument and thus division appear. Is it fair to ask a person to pay more than their share? I would argue no, it seems a majority here would argue yes. I’m ok with being wrong and learning, but I have a hard time shifting what I believe to be moral foundations.
edit: I appreciate you revisiting your statement and it makes a lot of sense. Something I’ll be thinking about a lot more.
