LynxSL
DeanObeidallahDespite the GOP's lies, Social Security is fully funded until 2035. The easy way to ensure future funding is to end the SS tax phase out at $160k meaning people pay SS tax on ALL income. But GOP will never agree to that bc it means their wealthy donors have to pay more taxes.
OtownKim
NerdGirlInVR 💜🇺🇸🌎🐘💜It looks like some #Republican states are looking to top off #SocialSecurity using younger and cheaper labor. 🤬
Get the 14 to 15-year-olds working in "job training" situations at a lower wage with fewer "expensive" benefits.
With considerably less education and horrible jobs that they can't escape, these kids will most likely start families younger and by 2035 will have produced an entire new crop of #childlaborers for the system. 🤬🤬🤬
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/11/us-child-labor-laws-violations
Cheryl@NerdGirlInVR @DeanObeidallah we are going backwards in this country!
Kypedsnp@DeanObeidallah The phase-out is ridiculous and definitely needs to end.
CaptainSmartass@DeanObeidallah I'm not against ending the phase out but be aware it would mean high earning people would be entitled to receive more benefits later due to the way Social Security is structured. Your contributions count as credits in the system, your credits determine your ultimate benefit.
Suzanne Paley@captainsmartass @DeanObeidallah This is only true if the change to the law is written that way. It could just as easily be written to cap benefits even while eliminating the cap on taxes.
@smpaley @DeanObeidallah it could be yes. But I don't think that change would survive a constitutional challenge on equal protection grounds, especially with the current SCOTUS. I'm not a lawyer, but requiring people to pay more for a retirement system while not allowing them the full benefits of such a system seems unequal.
Even with higher payouts it would still result in a more solvent system, though. So we should definitely remove the cap regardless.
@captainsmartass @DeanObeidallah I'm not a lawyer either, but conservatives float the idea of means-testing social security benefits all the time. A cap on benefits is just a different way of accomplishing similar goals.
@DeanObeidallah ending the phase out would likely also result in high earning people to shift more of their income to stock incentives instead of salary. Adding a social security deduction for capital gains would help in that case, which isn't something I've seen discussed anywhere but seems worth investigating.
Graydon@DeanObeidallah Simple fix; income and asset caps.
It removes all this political pressure to break things from over-concentrated agency, restores democracy, and returns the overall scope of the system to an environment in which it can work for everybody.
Liz Field 🏳️⚧️ She/They@DeanObeidallah interesting that’s the year I turn 65.
Auriga Tarantino@DeanObeidallah Are you sure you didn't mean to say that their wealthy donors.might have to pat "some" taxes? Since they seem to be getting off scot free these days.