Social Security is in Crisis, Should it be cut in the next 5yrs for those who earn $200,000.00 or more?

Question

...and stop taking deductions from them if they earn that and more?

Answer 1

uhhh, maybe if illegal immigrants did not collect on OUR benefits from S.S., we would not have this problem. I recieved the following e-mail the other day.
>
>PETITION FOR: President Bush
>
>Mr. President:
>The petition below is to protest against the recent vote of the senate
>which was to allow illegal aliens access to our social security! We demand
>that you and all congressional representatives require citizenship for
>anyone to be eligible for social services in the United States.

>My Mom was a homemaker and Dad worked all his life and paid into SS.
>Dad has passed away and now my mom can barely make ends meet. While the
>possible 'illegal' alien in front of her at the grocery store buys the name
>brands, my mom goes for the generic brands, and day old breads. She doesn't
>have out of state calling on her phone, because she can't afford it, and
>shops at the thrift shops and dollar stores while the 'illegal' aliens go
>to Macy's, Gap, J.C. Penny, Banana Republic, etc. She considers having a
>pizza delivered once a week 'eating out'. She grew up during the
>depression, watched her husband go overseas to fight in WW II a year after
>their marriage, and then they went on to raise, feed and clothe 5 children,
>scrounging to pay tuition for parochial schools. I'm sorry, but I can't see
>how the Senate can justify this slap in the face to born and bred, or
>naturalized citizens.
>It is already impossible to live on Social Security alone. If they give
>benefits to 'illegal' aliens who have never contributed, where does that
>leave us that have paid into Social Security all our working lives?
>The Senate voted this week to allow 'illegal' aliens access to Social
>Security benefits. Attached is an opportunity to sign a petition that
>requires citizenship for eligibility to receive Social services. If you do
>not wish to sign the petition yourself, please forward on to anyone you
>think might be interested.

Answer 2

Social security is in great shape at least until 2042 or 2052 or maybe much longer depending upon which estimates you believe. - It is the rest of the government that is broke and is facing a Crisis. . Last year congress borrowed over 160 billion dollars from the social security trust fund, every penny of which came from FICA taxes on working people that was earmarked for their retirement - and congress has no plan in place to pay it back when the money is needed to pay benefits. - The people who have benefited most from this borrowing are the people making over $200,000 who benefited from the Bush the capital gains and dividends tax cuts and all other tax cuts for the rich since Reagan. That doesn't mean that they should be deprived of their share of social security - But it is time to roll back the cuts in capital gains and dividend taxes and the other tax cuts that have most benefited the rich, so that the looting of the Social Security trust fund can stop.

Answer 3

Earnings are derived from society. Try selling your products or services on a deserted island. Income must be leveled more in this country or the owners will have no markets to sell into. Concentrating wealth is shortsighted and exactly how you create a third world economy where a very small elite enjoys a luxurious life while the rest of the people are economic slaves starving and joining revolutionary groups. Those guns everybody discusses frequently will come out of the backs of the run down pickup trucks when the income distribution gets a bit worse and children are starving because all the jobs have fled to cheap exchange rate controlled countries. Its all happened before and can happen again if we continue on the current trends.

Answer 4

I don't favor setting threshold dollar amounts for anything, especially income taxes, but I personally like the approach of allowing people to invest in their own retirement funds, using money deducted for that purpose from their wages.

I am a retired civil service employee. While on the federal payroll I did not contribute to social security other than for medicare and other than other jobs that I held that deducted social security.

There was a deduction for civil service retirement. That money was invested and will pay me a pension far more generous and at far less cost to the taxpaers than my social security pension does.

And my contribution to Social Security over the years was far more.

Go figure.

Answer 5

Make the Politicians pay back the 3.87 Trillion they have borrowed. They signed an IOU but are not living up to the promise to pay back. They have used this money as career politicians to buy votes. It must stop and there must be term limits put in place. Also, put our money back into a private Trust. Johnson took it out of that Trust and put it in the general fund which he had no business doing. That is why it is owed 3.87 Trillion.

Answer 6

Something should be done. I believe in privatization of the funds with management assistance, or perhaps the option to privatize for those who want it… but it’s not right to take the money from those who paid in, just because they don’t ‘need’ it anymore.

It’s the same as if you win the lotto tomorrow – make millions of dollars for the next 25 years… I would never come knocking on your door, and take the money from your IRA because you ‘don’t need it’ anymore. It's the same thing. It wouldn't be a problem if every presidential administration used the fund and filled it with I.O.U.s.

Good idea, but the problem comes from everyone who paid $ in, has rights to their money – likewise, those who have exhausted their moneys in SS, shouldn’t get it anymore, but do. More should be done than just kicking people out of the options for getting it based on income. Great question (No, I don’t make anywhere near 200K a year ;).

Answer 7

The FICA was created from the social security tax. This does not come from the income taxes. Tax deductions from personal income taxes should not be abolish for me. Why should I be denied a deduction that I have earned? I work hard for my money. Why should I be penalized for being successful?

Answer 8

It's too late for that. Social Security is already a monunmental disaster that will fall apart over the next 15 years or so.

How about stopping the US Govt. from taxing American savings accounts? Tax free saving accounts for all Americans.

Answer 9

I think if you are retired and can easily live without Social Security, then you should be allowed to collect. In stead that money should be spread through out the social security system to help benefit those who truly need it.

Answer 10

Well its a shame, but I keep hearing people old and young telling me how they earned everything. So, let them earn the money for their own retirement.