It seems like just yesterday - but it was nearly a month - when I posted a link to Alan Simpson and cheered finding Common Ground!
Yeah,
that didn't last long.
Here, let me fix Social Security for everybody: Raise the freaking Cap on Contributions! It was set quite a while ago, when making $100k a year meant you were stinking rich.
Income disparity being what it is, that's still "stinking rich" to much of America, but now a significant number of high earners hit the cap about halfway through the year and don't contribute a dime to the fund for the remainder of the year. The people who hit the max contribution early in every year don't die earlier than anybody else, and they draw from it for the rest of their lives, just as long as those "greedy" seniors who worked all their lives and contributed from EVERY paycheck all year round.
And Alan Simpson claims he doesn't realize he was using bogus life expectancy numbers? You can't just make up your own data, dude. You may be reasonable on issues like abortion and gay people stuff, but you are either willfully obtuse, or lying through your teeth.
That common ground - so nice while it lasted. Damn.
Oh, even better--did you see David Brooks' latest column? This will make you absolutely crazy. Apparently men are lazy, and that's what's causing all our problems.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/10/opinion/10brooks.html?_r=1&hp
I agree - and I do not understand why raising the cap, the obvious solution, has not already been done. I would like to make $100,000.00 one year - any year! I do understand it's not stinking rich any more, but it sure would be fun to see what it looks like.
ReplyDeleteThe cap does adjust according to the cost of living: Method for determining the base
ReplyDeleteThe formula for determining the OASDI contribution and benefit base is set by law. The formula is applicable only if a cost-of-living increase becomes effective for December of the year in which a determination of the base would ordinarily be made. Because there is no cost-of-living increase for December 2010, the formula is not applicable. Thus the base for 2011 is the same as the 2010 base, $106,800. Seems to me the formula could be adjusted - even if there is still a cap of some sort, increasing substantially seems like an overdue move.
I agree, and it can't happen soon enough. Everyone else pays the whole damn year, why not the upper middle class. And if they don't think they are upper middle class, they should see who all is slipping off the nether end into povertyville. Ok, I had my own rant on YOUR blog. Not nice I know.
ReplyDeleteSuperGirl is adorable! I hope you are well now and closer to completing your marathon of classwork. Gad!