Reply #18: The Reagan SS tax hikes were a clever scam [View All]

[lumberjack_jeff]

The Reagan ss tax hikes were marketed to avoid the situation where a small number of workers would be supporting their baby boomer parents. It was a trojan horse wrapped in an appeal to younger workers better nature. In reality, as others have mentioned, they were used as a general fund windfall to allow Republicans to cut income taxes on corporations and the wealthy.

The money is invested in bonds that bear the words "backed by the full faith and credit of the United States of America". I intend to hold the corporations and the wealthy to whom it was loaned to that promise.

The Social security fund "crisis" has always been 20 years away. It never gets here. Why? Because the projections of the social security trustees are chronically pessimistic. 'Everyone lives to 100', 'Interest rates will be low', 'inflation will be high', 'no one will be employed', etc, etc.

I think that the likelihood of insolvency is overstated, and I also disagree with the idea that the only possible fix is yet another tax increase on workers. A worker making $100k/year is still a worker.

One risk of eliminating the earnings cap subject to tax is that if those making $900k/year don't get proportionately higher benefits, then it will (with some justification) be percieved as welfare.