Social Security

This was one growing problem that was completely ignored by the Bush Administration, except for one ill-fated and unwise attempt to privatize it.

Now that long-term fiscal responsibility has returned to the White House, it's time to do something to fix Social Security. The last time that Social Security was paying out more than it was taking in was the early 1980s, and the Republican solution was to cut benefits and raise taxes, so there could be a surplus of Social Security taxes that could fund other big government project.

It would have been a lot simpler to fix the system years ago, when we could have used Social Security's cash surpluses to buy securities other than US Treasury Bonds. Then we'd have the surplus of the past to cover current shortfalls, but that was squandered and now it's too late for that fix.

This time around we need to be smarter and more responsible. With the cost of living going up and the specter of real inflation, it sounds particularly unwise to slash benefits on seniors that already paid into the system. So perhaps it's finally time to eliminate the tax break for the wealthy. As salaries increase from around $90K/year, the percentage of Social Security withholding goes down. The very rich see a tiny fraction of the tax burden, when compared to the chunk taken out of middle
class paychecks. It's time to level the playing field, with everyone paying in.