Morton Krondake, in Roll Call, has finally raised, perhaps for the first time, a proposal by Sen. Lindsay Graham to increase the cap on wages subject to Social Security taxes.
Since most Americans do not make $95,000, they are unaware that only the first $95,000 of someone's salary is subject to the 12.4 percent tax rate. Thus, in what Democrats could conceivable argue is a true upper class tax break, the very rich do not pay into the system more that $11,780 a year. Assuming Sen. Graham is able to convince the rest of Congress to raise teh salary cap to $200,000 and lower the rate to 11.4 percent, the few people out there making $200,000 would pay almost $22,800 per year into the system, a difference of $11,020 or double what the truly rich pay into the system. With the increasing salaries in this country, such a move is guaranteed to bring in more money.
If President Bush were to support such an idea, he could kill two birds with one stone. First, he can increase the amount of revenue being brought in through the Social Security tax by increasing the salary cap. Second, he can honestly say, with a straight face, that although there was a cut in the tax rate for all Americans, the super-rich are actually paying more than the average Joe--a PR move sure to deflate the sails of the Democratic leaders.
Democrats Yield Social Security Initiative to Bush
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