On Sunday September 8th, the New York Times published online and in print a letter from Social Security Works – Washington Chair Robby Stern on the simplicity of scrapping the cap to strengthen and preserve Social Security.
From the NYT Sunday Dialogue:
Currently, individuals earning more than $110,100 do not pay Social Security taxes on income above that amount. Most poor and middle-class families pay 6.2 percent of their income in Social Security taxes; wealthy people making $1 million end up paying less than 1 percent.
We can strengthen Social Security with one simple tweak: make everyone, including millionaires and billionaires, pay Social Security taxes on all their income. Then we can determine whether other sacrifices are necessary.
Social Security is one of the great achievements of American democracy. It keeps tens of millions of Americans out of abject poverty and provides a secure economic cornerstone for millions of hard-working people.
ROBBY STERN
Seattle, Sept. 5, 2012The writer is president of Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action and chairman of Social Security Works — Washington.
Social Security Works - Washington 