President Barack Obama said it, so too has the 2016 Democratic presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton, but the Republican Party is against it. Social Security remains a wedge issue for the two parties. Most democrats wish to increase monthly benefits for those who collect retirement, disability or survivor’s benefits by increasing Social Security taxes on the wealthy. Most republicans are against a tax increase of any kind and voice the usual rhetoric. U.S. Rep. Sam Johnson, (R-Texas), in his effort to stick with the republican playbook, suggested increasing Social Security taxes on the wealthy would hurt small business and penalize “job creators.” Despite the fact that Johnson doesn’t tell you most small business owners are not wealthy and many would not even be impacted by a proposal to increase Social Security taxes on top earners, there is still nothing but ignorant ideas standing in the way of an increase to Social Security benefits.
As it sits today, Social Security taxes are deducted on all income up to $118,500. That means everyone who earns more than this amount doesn’t pay Social Security taxes on anything earned above that. This means that people making $30,000 a year or $50,000 a year are subjected to paying Social Security taxes on 100 percent of their income, but those making $1 million per year pay Social Security taxes on a little more than 10 percent of their income. Does anyone see a problem with this?
The other thing is many wealthy Americans have not and will not need to rely on Social Security for their retirement, but middleclass America needs it to survive. It’s funny that republicans don’t want to increase Social Security benefits, but they are all for protecting current benefits. If the republicans had their way 80 years ago Social Security would not even existed today.
