The cap on social security’s taxability raises on the average of every few years. Now, some individuals are advocating removing the cap entirely and asks why there is a cap to begin with….
Well, a couple of facts here.
First of all, the top 10% of wage earners in the United States are already responsible for 70% of what is collected and retained by the Treasury.
Second, this is absolutely preposterous — tax hard-workers so that nobody else has to work. There is no way in Hell that these top-wage earners would recover a fraction of that when it’s time for them to retire.
The more obvious question should be, who invented Social Security? Who said it was the job of taxpayers to put into a fund to make sure everyone else was taken care of? Particularly with people like myself who is expecting NOTHING to be there when I turn 62.
How about we abolish social security altogether and have Americans become responsible for using their 7.65% withheld to invest in their own avenues?
How about we all just take care of ourselves and stop asking hard-workers to take care of everyone else. They are not required.
steveflesher
Philip
Mel Maguire
Mark Ciavola
Comments
hmmmmm…but since the top earners have the most access to the american dream why shouldn’t they be taxed on all their income? Lets face it, not everyone can hango ut in the hamptons, be it by the vagaries of birth or just plain genetics. Why should all their income be taxed, if joe fat cats isn’t?
ahhh, come on man, are you telling me those top guys dont get enough hand-outs? look at all the tax breaks they get. if they want more cash, tell ‘em to get a second job. i’m one of those lowly bums that hardly works at all, just around 80 hours a week, and i dont ask for hand-outs. i know mcdonalds workers who work harder than any two of those top dogs put together. besides, the rich aren’t stupid. they know if they dont help the poor wage-slave in some way, poverty would get out of control and their nice little mansions would be robbed.
now, as for having a cap on how much they can tax someone, i’m all for that.
when i finish my BAT in Software Engineering and my executive MBA, i wont mind being taxed higher. if the rich mind, tell ‘em they can get a minimum wage job. they will have lower taxes. then maybe they’ll be happier.
As I said, top-wage earners are already responsible for 70% of what is retained by the treasury. So what are you saying they should be responsible for 100%?
This idea that people like you refer to people who make past the cap “fat cats” is exactly what I am talking about.
Why do people make over $100,000 a year? Because they were born into it? Because it was handed to them?
Or is it because they sacrificed a lot, worked weekends, endured all-night study sessions for finals in college to advance themselves. This is available to everyone!
Making more that $97,500 does not even come close to hanging out in the Hamptons by the way.
If ten men making $100,000 a year that work hard and sacrificed put into the system and then 40 lazy Americans that had no drive to make something of themselves are collecting on something that someone else rightfully put in, then that is not America.
Why don’t you just walk up to someone on the street who makes more than you, ask them to hold still, take out their wallet and take what you want, because in essence that is what is happening.
not everyone does get a chance. take some of those guys and ladies in Iraq. what if they are disabled now, and cant get anything but disability? should we help them?
I’m not saying they should be taxed extra. Actually, I’m for a consumption tax, not an income tax. I don’t need anyone else’s anything thank you muchly, but I do disagree with your core premise of “this is available to everyone,” and I’m a little in doubt based on the intelligence I see in your posts that you could possibly believe that either. You’re telling me that someone mired in poverty with an IQ of 79 has the same chance as someone raised upper middle class with an IQ of 115?
I doubt it.
hey, even bums can have high IQ’s.
i dont know if the educational system has much to do with learning, mainly just memorizing.
i know plenty of dumb people with college degrees. ever wonder why it’s ok to make a C in a class, but if you show up like 5 minutes late you get in trouble? it’s not brains as much as learning to be a good employee.
This is the land of equal opportunity.
I am no better than anyone else on this planet.
How much someone has in terms of IQ is not what makes them a man, it is what they do with what is given to them that inspires others.
There is so much wasted energy out there an most successful folks I hang out with have endured their share of hard times and sacrifices.
The part of the video showing the man in the chair with the cigar when describing people who make over $97,500 is a sterotype and is flat out wrong to characterize people that way.
Most individuals I know that make over $97,500 are still paying off college loans.
sounds good steve. No point in continuing this if you are incapable of being wrong about anything. Fact: not all men are created equal. Fact: not all humans have the same opportunities. Explaining it away anecdotally does not make it less factual.
thanks for the conversation.
i agree with you that high iq=nothing if it’s not used and that people making that kind of money are paying off big college loans, though.
DareDevil, I think we all know that not everyone is equal, but taking away from someone who is successful (based on their own accomplishments and sacrifice) to give to the less successful is punishing the successful person. Why the incentive to succeed if the government is going to take your money?
Being a good employee today doesn’t cut it.
DareDevil, when I was going after my college degree I worked full time at my civilian employer, once a month military reserve duty, and attended courses at night. Does that sacrifice and dedication separate me from the guy who DECIDED to work 40 hours a week and each night sit in front of the tube? You’re damn right it does and in the end the diploma shows your dedicated and discipline to goal-setting.
I suppose you are going to tell me that everyone doesn’t have access to a college education?
Well, I’ll settle that real quick while I’m at it.
I have never met anyone in my lifetime who could not go to college. There are student loans disbursed in billions of dollars every year. There are jobs to work your way through college. Yes, even today in the world a person who wants a degree can get one.
Stop the excuses!
It’s all in the attitude and your works.
“No point in continuing this if you are incapable of being wrong about anything.”
Criminy — I never implied that wasn’t “wrong” about anything. In fact if you read what I said to you it was that I wasn’t perfect and am not better than anyone else.
I choose my fate and I work A LOT and you are correct in the fact that most people are not equal in the sense that some sacrifice and work harder, that is where the main differences lie.
If someone is sick or disabled, that’s a different story. That is what social programs were set up for.
Laziness is not a disability, however.
Devil Dog,
Really enjoyed that last one, I think DareDevil understood a bit more than Criminy did.
Another key word beyond sacrifice is “focus” which Devil Dog had to get through.
Now that kind of story is inspiring and at the end of the day, I couldn’t care less what his IQ was.
I completely agree that it’s unfair to take money from anyone to give to another, however, the operator of this website is Christian and generousity is a solid Christian virtue. Again, however, forcing others to be, isn’t.
There are people who have had things go wrong in their lives that people should be forced to help them out of (through government).
“There are student loans disbursed in billions of dollars every year.” Yes there is, but you are arguing against that idea, or at least when the money comes from the government.
Some people who have been hit with tragedy, whether it be their home catching on fire, or their family needing a very expensive surgery
that no household earning $100,000 a year could afford, should be helped out by the government. And yes many of these people, people like the residents of New Orleans, are being helped out by the government, and I realize that Devil Dog and Steve are probably arguing against the push for more to be done, but you guys are doing so in a manner that sounds like you’er against everyone getting help, even the people who are actually incapable of helping themselves, and not just the pretenders/beggers.
Nathan,
This hasn’t anything to do with Christian virtue — and it’s precicely why I did say earlier:
“If someone is sick or disabled, that’s a different story. That is what social programs were set up for.”
Exploitation just happens to be the key to the America Dream these days.
Wow. It’s hot in here. And I’m not in bed yet, so I’m crankier by the moment.
The government was never intended to take care of every person’s little whip stitchin’ issue. That is why there are charities, foundations, and Churches. And last I checked, Americans are the most giving nation on earth. It’s beyond most liberals to comprehend that many Americans give out of the pockets (after they are taxed) to help people. As I truly think most Americans don’t think it’s the job of the government. I don’t. I think the government should mind it’s business. Let the family, church and city take care of their own. Give them more of their own money and they’ll do what’s right. But that’s a foreign concept to liberals. Government is the quintessential Mom and Dad to liberals. Ugh.
most tax payer money goes to high-end R&D.
stuff like that. and look at the military. the amount of money we spend on military in 1 Year is equal to $20,000/ hr. for every hour since christ was born. literally.
the rich realize they need to spend money on some social programs, or the crime rates would soar. they know this. working a crap job and going to college is what alot of people do. i’m doing that, too. big deal. so i’ll have a few pieces of paper that means i can get a good job. what about single moms? should they not be taken care of because they made a wrong choice about a guy? the point is, a guy that makes $300,000 a year, and pays what? 33% tax, he gets a bunch of tax breaks, which amounts to welfare for the rich, if you ask me. take a guy making $10,000 a year. he gets taxed less, but what he does get taxed makes it harder for him to live. so what? the guy making six figures has to skip out on that extra car? yeah, you worked hard to get where you are. you also knew that more money equals a higher tax bracket. go work at a fast food place and get taxed less. what can i say? the rich live comfortably while the poor barely get by. also, on the fact that everyone can go to college. so, say we all did. someone is still gonna have to clean the streets, work at fast food, drive cabs, and all that. if we all had 5 masters degrees, Most people would still be working crap jobs. someones gotta be the cashier, the waitress, the janitor, etc. did you go to public school? well it costs on average $5,000 per year in taxes to put a kid through that. plus, paying all the salaries of the teachers, the heating, the books, etc. and college? did you go to a public college? have you payed the building off? what about all those teachers? the janitors too? so… basically you went on other peoples money, but you dont want to have to put it back in like the rich did before you. i’m against windfalls on stocks, because things like roth IRA’s dont get taxed until you cash em out.
i had no problem comprehending you steve. Where I drew the line was at agreeing with you.