Extend Social Security taxes to earnings over $97k?

[n5ifi]

Democrats started Social Security and claimed participation in the program would be completely voluntary. Democrats then made it a non voluntary program. Democrats said participants would only have to pay 1% of the first $1,400 of their annual income into the Program. Democrats changed that to 7.65% on the first $90,000.

[n5ifi]

Democrats said that the money the participants elected to put into the program would be deductible from their income for tax purposes each year. Democrats made it no longer tax deductible. Democrats said the money that participants put into the independent 'Trust Fund' would not be mixed into the general operating fund. Democrats moved the social security money into the general operating fund and the money was spent.

[n5ifi]

Democrats said that the annuity payments to the retirees would never be taxed as income. Democrats changed that so that up to 85% of your Social Security can be Taxed. Which party was in charge and made these changes? Democrats!

Which party allowed Immigrants to move into this country, and at age 65, receive Social Security payments! The Democratic Party gave these payments to illegal immigrants, even though they never paid a dime into it.

[Rightwingist]

Dumb response here. If a person is making, lets say $400, 000 a year, why would they paid into a SS retirement plan? They have one, they have money so they don't need SS. SS is a tax based on a specific need. You should just tax them period, don't call it FICA.

[soliloqy]

This issue isn't an issue of Republican vs Democrat... It's an issue of my generation vs yours... borrowing money against social security to pay for this empire we can't afford is morally bankrupt and indefensible...

[balcoballer324]

higher taxes are bad.

why should people work hard if their money will be taken away and given to other people?

[Porkusido]

Well, mayby for the security they get when they know that if something happens to them, Society will help you and your family to still be able to live a decent life until you find a new jobb? or mayby they feal that other people thats sick or have other problems that prohibit them from finding a jobb shouldnt have to sleep on the streets? or mayby to give everyone an opportunity to go to college and get healthcare?

but you probobly think the people that want this are stupid ^^

[balcoballer324]

You don't receive social security if you lose your job or need to go to college. Get your facts straight if you're going to call me out on something. The idea of social security is fine. However, liberals/socialists/you prefer that the prosperous give money to drug addicts, felons, and non-hard-working individuals.

[GobalHoldingsLLC]

what would you do invest your money in mutual funds and when you get 70 loss it all and then go hungry

someone got to feed your fat ass when you get old and have no money

[CircusMaximus09]

"lern how to spel"

[billrah]

This same subject is being talked about by the candidates now. They know the payroll tax is scheduled to go up again in 2009, but they never say it.

Who is kidding who ??????

Note on the Chris Wallace show tonight Lindsay Graham slipped and mentioned the scheduled hike.

[billrah]

1 of 2

Every candidate on that stage knew or should have known this at

the time.

This update provides new information for 2008 for many items such

as Social Security taxes and benefits. BY LAW, these numbers

change automatically each year to keep the program up to date with

increases in price and wage levels. Whether you are working or you

are already getting Social Security benefits, these changes are

important to you

[billrah]

2 of 2 Social Security Taxable wages cap: FICA CAP for 2000 was $76,200 FICA CAP for 2001 was $80,400 FICA CAP for 2002 was $84,900 FICA CAP for 2003 was $87,000 FICA CAP for 2004 was $87,900 FICA CAP for 2005 was $90,000 FICA CAP for 2006 was $94,200 FICA CAP for 2007 was $97,500 FICA CAP for 2008 will be 102,000

[mhirtes12]

Check out a copy of "The Jungle" from your local library for a long hard look at what America was like before Social Security and other federal programs.

[robert0380]

Does this plan to raise the cap include changing how benefits are calculated? Right now benefits are calculated based on the 97.5K cap. Will they keep it fair and raise the number in the calculation of benefits as well or will this just be gross wealth re-distribution where top income earners are just forced to fund someone else's retirement? Politicians are full of it, both sides.

[mtrcitymotown]

This is a crock of crap. How many times have we heard these guys preach about solving the problem. Every election race! Politicians are over paid salesmen. Lets hire some of those bean counters that Ford, GM and Chrysler has.  Maybe there's something that India could do for us! Go home politicians bring out real businesmen to solve your stupid and wasteful spendings of our hard earned cabbage.

[pepsi6543]

when the govt needs money, raise taxes. So simple. Why is social security running out of money? Because the federal govt has spent the money in the trust fund. They will replace that money by raising taxes. Then they'll be irresponsible and raise taxes again. Raising taxes will never solve anything. The govt is the problem.

[shanath18]

The top 1% of all taxpayers pay some 34% of the entire tax revenue.

[mhirtes12]

"Who took SS from a trust fund to a general fund so congress could spend it? -- Democrats."

Ronald Reagan and Alan Greenspan are Democrats? Did Fox News put a "D" by their names too?

[mhirtes12]

"If you're in the luckiest 1 per cent of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99 per cent."

-- Warren Buffett

[kndrice]

Do you really think that Warren Buffet actually pays taxes? He obviously passes these "costs" on to everyone who has pays for his services--just like every business in America. Businesses don't pay taxes, consumers do.

[ytdsmom]

mhirtes: It's not 'just' the top 1% anymore...the democrats want to redefine what wealth is & hurt the middle-class too. The upper & middle-class are the spenders in this economy and we're hurting them. There shouldn't be excessive penalties for success. Perhaps these are the ppl who sacrificed & went to college, worked extra hard, etc. This is slowly turning into communism...truck drivers make the same as doctors in the end. Buffett can send the IRS more $ if he's that concerned.

[robert0380]

That statement by Warren Buffett doesn't say that paying higher taxes to the government helps anyone. He gives money to charities that benefit people. I've never heard Warren Buffet say that people should give money to government in the hopes they they will in turn use it for charitable causes. The best way to help people is through charities that actually give to people, not through government that spends it on vote getting initiatives.

[mhirtes12]

That's right. Poor people should have to grovel to churches for a crust of bread, just like in Victorian days, according to you.

Burn in Hell, OK? We're not going back to that miserable era.

[robert0380]

Keep in mind that this discussion is supposed to be about Social Security and not welfare. I'm all for helping people that truly need it, I just don't like the way government tries to run it. There is so much overhead and inefficiency in our government that hardly any of the money collected in the name of social programs actually makes it to the people that need it. That's why I say private charities are better at it than government as is the case with most things government runs.

[GobalHoldingsLLC]

welfare only accounts for less then 3% of the entire budget

rather see them stop weasting money in iraq or do not build a nuke bomb or 2

[robert0380]

Warren Buffet doesn't send more money to the government when he wants to help out the "little guy". He donates it to charities that handle it much more efficiently. An example was his donation to Bill and Melinda Gates' charity. Buffet never said anything about trusting government to take care of people.

[GobalHoldingsLLC]

warren buffet does not spread his money around when he invest like these talk show host like dave ramsey says

he invest in 1 thing and watches it like a hawk

[GobalHoldingsLLC]

RICH people has less of a chance to enter god's kingdom then the poor

it is the rich like those in west palm beach now who lost all their money with MADOFF who is now applying for food stamps

[CircusMaximus09]

Define RICH

[riverbilly224]

Social Security dollars are spent as part of the general budget. My payroll taxes pay for pork and war, thus it is a tax. Why should a poor person pay payroll taxes on 100% of their income while a wealthier person pays a much lower rate. The wealthy person pays no payroll taxes on capital gains, dividends and corporate distributions.

[madboreddude]

i wish everyone answered this question...

[devikkyrn]

Truthfully, the limit is a good idea. Sure, some people are putting less money in now. But if you make them put in a lot more money, that just means when they retire, they'll be given larger payments. It doesn't help the problem at all.

[halosmyth]

Dodd mentioned raising the cut - off to a higher pay, we don't need to raise it to a higher amount of pay/year. EVERYONE should pay into it because EVERYONE puts their hands out for a piece of the pie when it's time to retire

[frostysmores]

Which candidate supports a complete lift on the social security cap?

[ReformSocialSecurity]

Social Security is a Pay-Go system meaning that at any given moment the government has just enough money in social security fund to pay the next months benefit check. So if the economy collapsed then there would be no money. Privatization is the only way to go. Just use math to figure it out. Start with compounding the weekly 15% contribution we all pay and discover for yourself. You will be surprised. You will retire a millionaire.

[dmambrose]

Not quite, a man starting to work in 1961 at 18 making minimum wage for his whole life (his wage will only increase with increase minimum wage) contributes the same amount that SS takes from his pay and he saves that in the stock market, he would retire with $800,000 in the bank. If he taked out what SS gives him, by the age of 90 he will be a millioniare.

[KaneFenton4Freedom]

GET RID OF SOCIAL SECURITY!!! Why should I be forced to pay into something I won't get anything out of. Why should government pay for people. Independence! That's what we need, that's what we should have. Government needs to mind their own business. Click on my name and see my channel and stop the government from getting bigger!

[dmambrose]

The real truth is that social security is an another tax on the working person. The surplus money pay into social security go redirected to another parts of the government like the war in Iraq. The federal government does not save the money, it spends it. Are we getting taxed too much or retirees not getting enough benefits. Raising the social security tax will only give more money to today government and not save it for the future retirees because it is a pay as you go system.

[nonrepublicrat]

any issue that comes up,, the solution is always increase taxes. we are already working 6 months out of the year to fund the corrupt politions out of control spending. i guess that's not enough. this is all about making sure everyone needs to depend on the government and therefore are much easier to control.

[juana4molina]

I'm Generation Y, let me DROP OUT from Social Security! want to pay for welfare, but not for non poor given that I'll never be able to retire

[surfnsnowbunny]

I think all americans should make it a federal law that all politicians and serving for government should only be able to make no more than the median income of the area that there in. no matter what level of government

[h2opower]

Now ask your Candidate these questions:

1. How would you go about taking down the Federal Reserve Bank?

2. How would you go about putting a stop too fractionalized banking practices?

3. How would you pull the US out of the BIS, IMF, and World Banks?

These are the most important questions of all for once this is done we will have no debt as a nation, and with no debt all of the other programs can be made too work.

[botchalism]

All these candidates lie, once they get elected they'll pull a 180 degree turn on this issue.

[Yairio]

Your solution is to raise taxes and put the funds in the hands of an incompetent government that has a programs that produces weak returns? Pathetic!

[Franklin8491]

The real problem with Social Security is that congess has been borrowing the surplus in the SS trust fund, spending it, and has no plan in place to pay it back when it is needed to pay benefits. - It is the rest of the government that is broke. - not SS.

[JeffersDodge]

Do the math. If you make $15 p/hour from age 22 to 67 the GOV will take $6.20 from you and $6.20 from your employer for a total of $12.40 out of every $100 you make. That is expressed this way $15 X 40 X 52 = $31,200 X 12.4% = $3,869, which is contributed to Social Security each year. Compound that using 10% per year and you should have $892,437 in your Lockbox when you retire. At 6% interest you will receive a monthly check until death of $4,462. Under the old Social Security it would be $1,195

[ShawnHydedotcom]

Vote Mike Gravel or Ron Paul in 2008 for America's future and Freedom!

[LowBudgetPuppets]

Hey debate watchers, want some comic relief?

Check out our latest Campaign Recap.

- The Sock

youtube + /watch?v=9hbA77sLeIc

[Naturyl]

The questioner is repeating Republican propaganda. Social Security is not "running out of money." There is no crisis. However, I do think the cap should be removed. Kill the cap!

[carRamRod04]

If they remove the cap on payroll taxes, will they also follow it up by removing the cap on SS benefits one receives?

Or is this just the typical democratic plan, steal from the rich to give to the poor?

Would someone please cite a clause in the US Constitution that gives the government such a right?

[geezlouisestaci]

2040 ... that sounds weird

[carRamRod04]

"nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation"....

I would give anything to get my 13% in SS taxes back and be able to invest it how I choose (not 100% in rolling T-bills).

[Lifesucksdie123]

i shit my pants this morning...

[nognilk]

let me get this straight. I listen to my parents and studied hard, work hard to get a $100,000 salary job, so I can fund my own retirement plan, because when I retire, I won't get social security because of not passing the means test.

And now you want to tax me for a benefit I will never receive. No way, I'm not voting for you. I'll take care of my own parents rather than have taxes taken out for other people's parents.

[dircha]

Many, many Americans did not have those opportunities; no chance. The question is simple: Do you want to live in a country where elderly workers and veterans are sick and homeless and die on the street, or do you want to live in a first world nation? If you want the former, Somalia is a great place to live.

[nognilk]

It hard to look at things from the top level as you suggest. Look at it from the individual level. My parents will get social security from the 15 years I've been working below $100K. But SS is not enough for them to live on, so I will have to provide more for them. The more taxes that is taken out of my pay, the less I have to give to my parents. what is needed in America is a mandetory 3% savings plan. Just like what Milton Freidman did for Chile.

[JeffersDodge]

Yes I agree but why don't we take the social security contribution and put it in a lock-box with our name on it instead of putting it into a community cesspool? That way we can retire wealthy. A $15 p/hour wage earner can retire with a $4,462 monthly check and leave $900,000 to his children.

[nognilk]

that's a good idea, but politicians do not listen to good ideas (a la Sen. Dodd's answer)

[collywobble43]

Yes! YES! What a great idea. Let's raise the ceiling on the SS tax so we can get more money for SS... that we will then take out of SS and use for other things... thus leaving SS unchanged... hmm, shouldn't we consider keeping the money we already raise for SS with SS?

[MyPasswordIsUserName]

we need to reverse all the Bush Tax cuts for the wealthy, what a disgrace Bush has been to the American people and the world

[rochha]

the only Reason Social Security is in trouble is because the government spends most of it on current government operations, if they kept like 90% of the money they get they would be OK.

[cpp1]

I agree. For example, the only reason Bill Clinton produced a surplus in the budget is because he used social security funds to create that surplus. This violation of funds has been going on for years and will continue. I'd also like to say that Social Security is a regressive tax, paid by the poor to pay for the poor.

[cpp1]

It's not meant for people with over 100K salaries...it never has been. This illusion that social security is for everyone is crap meant to keep you in control and not invest in your life and start really questioning the political agendas of all politicians.

[HeyGettaClue]

Social Security retirement benefits are based upon your earnings (and taxes paid) over your working life. The more you earn and pay in taxes, the larger your benefit -- up to a maximum retirement benefit. Earnings above the income cap are not taxed because they no longer increase your SSI benefit. But that doesn't stop politicians and socialists from wanting to confiscate wealth from one group and give it to those who will vote for them.

[geyser]

The institution of marriage is an invention of Religion. With the invention of the institution of marriage, came the inventioin of the promiscuity label. Humans are not a monogamous species, although it is a noble endeavor when persons attempt it.

[TurquoiseTantrum]

i love how they didnt answer that question.

[4951WEDDEL]

Social Security is nothing more than another government handout. The benefits that have been given out far exceed what anyone has ever paid into it. What is wrong with allowing someone to opt out of it if he or she thinks they can do better with their own money?

[jdurham70]

they dont want to give up S.S cause then they cant get there hands on the money!!!Think about how much surplus they would have at even simple interest!!Ron Paul!!!!!

[thelawgurl]

HMmMm! Right.. if they raised it... then they would risk getting taxed as well... Oh! They can't do that... they are the do gooders and do gooders shouldn't be taxed!

[kossmikham]

at one point the social security tax cap was less than 20,000 because that was part of the deal in "the new deal". now it's 97,500, and it keeps rising EVERY YEAR despite its original intent, while the AMT (stealth, highway robbery tax) kick-in threshold does not get adjusted for inflation. and yet, freeloaders and whiners like you continue to whine because they're too stupid to even know who's paying all the taxes. you make me sick.

[kossmikham]

i'll tell you "what's up with that". punishing those who are able to earn more than the average joe is down right UNAMERICAN. Those who are able to earn more than you have worked hard and earned their ability to do so. no one is handing it over to them just for the heck of it. what most people don't realize is that the top 10% income earners of this country already pay over 50% of the taxes because of the unfair, lob-sided progressive tax rates.

[highbushblueberries]

obama is using reagan as a role model? Obama isn't willing to make those with income over $97,000 contribute their fair share to social security? He lost my vote!

[brick4sale]

You already said that before hippy, and not everything Reagan did was bad.

[highbushblueberries]

I wouldn't vote for anyone who looks to Reagan as a role model. Hippy? lol. You show your foolishness by assuming too much.

[4951WEDDEL]

Tell me, what is their "fair share"?

[highbushblueberries]

fair share is paying social security tax on all your income.

[carRamRod04]

well if you support fairness then I take it you support removing the cap on how much you can receive for social security as well.

[antmoe3]

CNN why not asked a social security question twice!!

[xKCBEx]

thats funny, that's the second time Obama has invoked Saint Ron. Does he know his audience or what!

[HandsOnVermont]

I'm sorry but ronald reagan is the reason that aids has killed as many people it has. It was not until after he left office that funding for aids was raised. ronald reagan is responsible for killing millions of people he is far from a saint.

[4951WEDDEL]

AIDS killed people because most of them were either doing illegal drugs and/or perverted sexual acts. It is a totally preventable disease if one avoids the risky behavior.

[HandsOnVermont]

ronald reagan did not talk about the issue while in office. You know this information only because it was shared with you, yet it is not as true as you might wish it to be. Blood transfusions do you know of them and how aids was passed through blood. How many people died because of the need for blood?

[4951WEDDEL]

The blood supply was contaminated by the gays and the drug users. It is clean now because we bar them from giving blood and we test for the virus. As I said, AIDS is a totally preventable disease.

[Yilmael]

Hahahahahahahahahaha, geyser is absolutly right just so you know.

[geyser]

The majority of AIDS infected people are heterosexuals in third-world countries, who are told by the Catholic Church that condoms are bad.

[4951WEDDEL]

Condoms are bad because they fail 25% of the time in preventing pregnancy. The rate of failure for AIDS is much higher. Anyone wonder how a disease that was predominately a gay one is now infecting heterosexuals?

[xKCBEx]

yeah, I meant that somewhat sarcastically or satirically if you wish, Ron was anything but a saint, he was a very bad bad bad man. Not to mention Alzheimers afflicted and dumb as a rock

[HandsOnVermont]

I totaly missed the mark of what you were saying "xkcbex". Thank you for adding this second comment.

[4951WEDDEL]

Ronald Reagan had his flaws as do all men. He was smart enough to beat the Democrats TWICE.

[joeyoung90]

That is because SS is NOT a tax strictly speaking. It is for a very specific benefit. There is no legal requirement for individuals to join the Social Security program. If you tax it much more the rich will just opt out and you will lose their money.

It's really that simple.

[globaltiger]

The cutoff is and has been rediculous!! 100 percent of my earnings go into it, so it should be for everyone else.

[freedomanddemocracy]

Debating the Debate: CNN/Youtube dems, Charlotte(SC) 7/23/07

watch?v=zlb_tLQKCNM