New Times / Letter To The Editor

Get rid of the ceiling for this fix

Andy King

Fix Social Security and start paying off the debt at the same time. See the table at npr.org/blogs/money/2012/07/16/156688596/what-americans-earn.

Just remove the ceiling on Social Security payroll tax (currently at $113,700 per year).

If you assume that the numbers are slightly better than the table (2010), because they are, it’s hard to make the total amount contributed to the Treasury less than an extra trillion dollars per year.

Why should people who make less than $113,700 per year pay Social Security tax on their entire earnings, but people making more than that amount stop paying the tax when they hit $113,700?

Everyone contributes to Medicare based on their full earnings. Why not Social Security? If this were instituted, the retirement age wouldn’t have to be raised, and the Treasury would run a surplus every year.

Write your representative and ask for this. I have.