Will it be a hardship for many folks when the 2% FICA is added to their deductions?...

[kentuck]

...on their paychecks. On many paychecks, it will only be about $35 -$40 per month. That doesn't sound like much of a sacrifice.

However, if their middle-class taxcut is added on top of the 2% FICA, then it might sting a little more? That same worker might pay an extra $100 per month in taxes?

How easy will it be to let both these taxcuts expire in two years? Have we even thought about it from the perspective of a poor working-class parent? And these same folks are going to turn around and vote for you in the next election?

Do you foresee any political difficulties in letting these taxcuts expire?

A chicken has a brain this big (.) and it has the sense to get out of the rain...

[Cleita]

1. It seems they should have raised the cap

to $250,000 from $106,000. That might have made up the difference with those with higher incomes paying more into FICA. But of course it's the poor and working classes who get the majority of the tax burden placed on them.

[LiberalFighter]

6. IMO they were not doing it to help give tax cuts.

They were doing it to destroy Social Security. Because when it is time for this to expire there will be immense pressure to make it permanent. Then what happens to the benefits that future retirees receive and expect to rely on?

Remember too that Social Security is not broke even though many especially in the media put that message out there. They are brainwashing everyone to believe it to prepare everyone to accept it as the reason when they make drastic changes.

[kentuck]

7. But it will be broke when the American people stop paying into it.

Right?

We cannot borrow from the Chinese to fund Social Security.

[LiberalFighter]

8. I'm not sure about it right now but it may be set up that the 2% will come from the general fund.

But not likely if they try to make it permanent.

[kentuck]

9. That is the problem.

The general fund is borrowed from the Chinese. The American people pay FICA taxes into the fund. That is different from the money borrowed from others. If the people stop paying into the fund, it will go broke. The 2% may be borrowed from the general fund but it is not paid into the fund. There is a difference folks are overlooking. It is a dangerous precedent.

[dmallind]

11. China has less than 6% of US debt. The general fund's largest lender is.......

... the SSI trustees

[kentuck]

12. But that is our money they are borrowing.

Not the Chinese. Do you see the difference?

Not to be nit-picky but people need to see what is being done here.

[Hannah Bell]

13. SS Trust Fund. SSI = supplemental security income, funded from general revenues, not SS revenues.

SSI is for low-income/elderly/disabled who don't qualify for SS.

It's a welfare program.

[Cleita]

10. I know it's not broke but I had to tell both my boss

and family that they were being lied to. They actually were shocked when I gave them the true facts and where to go to verify what I said. Social Security isn't even part of the budget because it's administered separately. Lowering the rate of deduction is the second part of the erosion they are starting. The first part was not giving seniors COLA raises for the last two years. Drip! Drip! And one fine day it's all gone.

[bluestateguy]

2. I'll tell you what approach I would favor

Lower the rate to 4.2% permanently, but lift completely the earnings cap for SS/Medicare. That would more than makeup for the lost revenue AND give working people a permanent tax cut.

[kentuck]

3. How would that affect the long term stability of the SS program?

Would we be paying for it ourselves with our FICA taxes or would we be borrowing the money from the Chinese to pay for it. I would venture that the latter would not be as stable.

[Sherman A1]

4. I know I got screwed in the last "tax cut"

and am not looking forward to this one.

[kentuck]

5. I simply cannot see how the Democrats can let either of these taxcuts expire?

...without paying a political price? And I don't see them willing to do that?

I think they have set themselves up in a political trap?

Unless, of course, the economy is booming. Which, I do not expect.

[bluestate10]

14. I don't get your math.

The 2% is a reduction in FICA taxes. FICA taxes are not deductible, so the reduction makes no difference to a person's federal income tax rate. For a person making $50,000 per year, the 2% reduction means that $1,000 more will come to them as money. I don't know how the added $1,000 would affect local or state taxes in some places. Your state of Kentucky is a relatively high tax state given incomes, so your state tax code may take away from the $1,000 and force it to be called added income for the purpose of state taxation.

[kentuck]

15. As in ...

what is deducted (subtracted) from your paycheck this year as opposed to next year when the FICA tax holiday expires? Not a deduction in the sense of a tax deduction. Sorry for the confusion. There is no problem when your tax rate is reduced but what about when it is increased? If you add the 2% FICA taxes to your tax liability, as well as the middle class taxcuts when they expire, that could be a pretty good tax increase for some folks don't you think? How do the Democrats handle it?