Toni
Contributor
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2011
- Messages
- 22,378
- Basic Beliefs
- Peace on Earth, goodwill towards all
You mean financial need? Of course really wealthy people don’t need SS. But SS is supposed to be for everyone, not just those who actually need it. And everyone pays in if they earned wages or were married to a wage earner. People who didn’t earn much money get more in SS than they contributed. Likely they did not earn enough to save for retirement. SS was conceived of as an anti-poverty program to keep older people from literally starving to death.I already knew all of that, but that doesn't mean the billionaires should receive huge amounts of SS just because they pay in more. I know this won't happen, at least not in my lifetime, but there is no reason why the ultra wealthy need so much money.I talked with my husband who has a background in public finance about this issue: raising income that could be taxed for SS while limiting benefits received because I thought exactly what you suggested. What he told me was that removing the cap on taxable income but maintaining the cap on benefits received would go completely against the purpose and design of SS. It was designed so that everyone contributed and everyone received in proportion to what they contributed. This is why there is a cap on income taxed for SS: Rich people don’t need money from SS. It could cause more resentment and a collapse of support for and of this very important benefit if we changed that balance.That could be solved by allowing a lot more young immigrants into the country if they want to join what was once a called a nation of immigrants. These people pay into SS, but rarely receive it. Plus, very few Americans want to care for older adults. Most of the aides and LPNs in the nursing home where my mother spent her last two years were immigrants. The RNs were mostly American citizens who were born in the US. RNs aren't the ones who help older adults with the ADLs.To keep Social Security solvent. And someone is going to have to change out bedpans.I think I missed the part where it was explained why we need more babies.But if we want people to have more babies, maybe it’s the men who need to change.
Additionally, there shouldn't be a limit on the income paid into SS. People who are extremely wealthy don't need larger SS benefits, but they should pay in more than they currently do. Women who want to have more babies certainly should be able to but there are many ways to solve things like SS besides having more babies. There are currently a huge number of jobs that can't be filled because Americans don't want to do that type of work.
Bring in those who will do the jobs in return for a chance to become citizens. Of course that's not going to happen under the current xenophobic administration but we're fucked if this continues, not just because of SS, but for all the jobs that need to be filled.
I don’t like it either but I see his point. GOP is already trying to destroy SS.
Another option is to permit those who don't need SS to donate it back. I think Warren Buffet used to talk about how insane it was that he paid a lower percentage of taxes compared to his secretary. There are some decent wealthy people who would probably agree to something like that. Plus, the better members of the ultra wealthy could try to shame those who aren't willing to donate their SS. There are solutions to make the system more fair. Lower income people get pittance when it comes to SS. Why is that fair if they've worked all of their lives, paid into SS at the same percentage of everyone else, but were never able to make a decent salary?
I think the cap on wage earnings that are subjected to SS taxes is about $80K but I could be wrong. I think it should be raised but not eliminated.