Obama's Social Security Fine Print

Quote:Last week, Barack Obama revealed his plan to shore up Social Security's shaky finances by raising the income level on which the payroll tax is applied. Currently, incomes above $102,000 are exempt, with that threshold rising every year indexed to wage inflation. Mr. Obama would keep that limit in place, but then assess payroll taxes on incomes above $250,000, which his campaign claims would apply to only the richest 3% of Americans.

Seems harmless enough after all, how many INDIVIDUALS MAKE $250k right?

Quote:According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, Mr. Obama's new tax would siphon off 0.4% of gross domestic product annually. Combined with Mr. Obama's other tax-hike initiatives, "the total tax on labor would be close to 60 percent. In high-tax states like California and New York, the top rate would be even higher."

Wow! Those are tax rates not seen since Jimmy Carter was in office, that was a simpler time when the government took care of you. It had to you were left with very little income.

Quote:But the most alarming thing about Mr. Obama's proposal is that the $250,000 threshold, above which the payroll tax would be applied, refers to household income, not individual income. So it's quite deceptive when he claims that the $250,000 threshold will "ensure that lifting the payroll tax cap does not ensnare any middle class Americans."

Deceptive is such a strong word, I prefer to think he is helping the American voter by not confusing them with details. So it hits married couples harder, he's just trying to find a solution to the gay marriage issue. If married couples are taxed at higher rates people will stop getting married, problem solved.

Quote:But that tax bill could be higher still. While the payroll tax has always been calculated just on wages from labor, Mr. Obama hasn't decided yet what forms of income will be included in the $250,000 threshold. It's an open question whether it might include interest on savings and capital gains income.

Hey if you earn a penny you should have to pay SSI tax on it, even your kids lemonade stand.

Quote:And neither has Mr. Obama said whether the rich – and, truth be told, the middle class – paying his new higher taxes will get correspondingly higher Social Security benefits when they retire

His plan isn't about benefits based on contributions it's about wealth redistribution.

Quote:Worst of all, even the small contribution to Social Security solvency that Mr. Obama's plan might make is entirely illusory. In fact, the more taxes his plan collects, the worse Social Security's long-term situation gets. That's because all plans based on collecting taxes and saving them in the Social Security Trust Fund for future benefit payments rely on the U.S. government being able to redeem the Treasury bonds that trust fund holds.

There's only one place that the money to redeem those bonds can come from: taxes. So ironically, any tax dollars collected today will have to be collected all over again – plus interest. You like the idea of paying more taxes today for Mr. Obama's Social Security plan? Then just wait 20 years or so, because you'll get to pay more taxes all over again.

Details! Details! Obama will be a footnote in history in 20 years why should he worry now? Seriously this shows how democrats push ideas that sound good to the public but either haven't a clue, or don't want to tell the turn meaning of SSI trust fund aka "Lock-box".

(06-25-2008 05:20 PM)THE NC Herd Fan Wrote:  

Quote:And neither has Mr. Obama said whether the rich – and, truth be told, the middle class – paying his new higher taxes will get correspondingly higher Social Security benefits when they retire

His plan isn't about benefits based on contributions it's about wealth redistribution.

The bigger problem is that the redistribution that it will really accomplish will be from the USA to other countries.