The problem is that is the 40% of the country with hardly any money, so there's not much revenue to be gotten from them, anyway. They also still pay a fair amount of more regressive taxes like social security, sales taxes, etc.
> They also still pay a fair amount of more regressive taxes like social security
Social security for low-income folks isn't so much a tax as a forced savings plan. For low-income folks, the return is pretty good. For higher-income folks, the return is lousy. For the rich, it's simply not a factor.
Note that the "regression" comes from capping the amount taxed, but the benefits are capped too. If you uncap the amount taxed and uncap the benefits, Ross Perot will be getting >$100k benefits and the system will have even more economic trouble. If you uncap the amount taxed and keep the benefits cap, it becomes yet another welfare program and folks are going to start caring about the 15%.
In the past, SS advocates have argued vehemently against turning it into yet another welfare program and have also opposed uncapped benefits. They argue that both will lead to decreased support for SS.
Comments
The problem is that is the 40% of the country with hardly any money, so there's not much revenue to be gotten from them, anyway. They also still pay a fair amount of more regressive taxes like social security, sales taxes, etc.
> They also still pay a fair amount of more regressive taxes like social security
Social security for low-income folks isn't so much a tax as a forced savings plan. For low-income folks, the return is pretty good. For higher-income folks, the return is lousy. For the rich, it's simply not a factor.
Note that the "regression" comes from capping the amount taxed, but the benefits are capped too. If you uncap the amount taxed and uncap the benefits, Ross Perot will be getting >$100k benefits and the system will have even more economic trouble. If you uncap the amount taxed and keep the benefits cap, it becomes yet another welfare program and folks are going to start caring about the 15%.
In the past, SS advocates have argued vehemently against turning it into yet another welfare program and have also opposed uncapped benefits. They argue that both will lead to decreased support for SS.
Are they wrong?