Why is there a cap on Social Security taxes you have to pay?

To The Daily Sun,

I have been watching the Democratic presidential candidates trying to outdo each other with free stuff for anyone that will vote for them. Medicare for all, free college, retributions for minorities, pay for all citizens whether they work or not and the list goes on. When asked where the money is going to come from, they rarely provide an answer but when they do it’s universally, they will tax the rich. I’m fascinated how many on the left buy into that after their failure to deliver time and again.

My last letter (https://www.laconiadailysun.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/obamacare-a-failure-when-you-analyze-cost-versus-benefits/article_84586548-8bb3-11e9-b285-23908bc9c8aa.html) focused on the failure of Obamacare from a financial standpoint for “working” Americans. In two letters before that (https://www.laconiadailysun.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/democrats-and-left-leaning-media-can-t-face-the-facts/article_e2a84b74-78c9-11e9-b2a3-4b452e2711c9.html) I pointed out that the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act (TC&JA) increased the tax burden on the rich by about $200 billion and decreased the tax burden on the low income workers by about the same amount. So why does the left continue to say the TC&JA benefits the rich and get away with it? The only conclusion I can come up with is that facts don’t matter to the average Democratic voter. If they did, they would point out the errors in my numbers.

Here is another fact. If the Democrats really wanted to make the rich and corporations pay more in taxes, why don’t they just eliminate the cap on Social Security? For those that don’t know what I’m talking about I’ll explain. If you work, 6.2 percent of every dollar you make is taken out and given to the federal government to pay for Social Security when you retire. In addition, another 6.2 percent is paid by your employer. For some reason that will stop when your annual salary reaches $132,900 in 2019. So, if you make $132,900 you pay $8,239.80 ($132,900 X .062 = $8,239.80). In addition, your employer pays another $8,239.80 into your “account.” So, here is the kicker. If someone else makes $1,000,000 shouldn’t they pay $62,000 ($1,000,000 X .062 = $62,000)? The answer is no! They pay the same $8,239.80 as the person that made $132,900 because that’s the law. And who gets to keep the $53,760.20 ($62,000 - $8239.80 = $53,760.20)? Well, the rich person of course and the corporation they work for gets to keep the same amount.

So, I thought surely this will pay for all the free stuff the Democrats are promising right? Well, being the nerd that I am, I figured I’d do some estimates on how much that would be. I went to this link (https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/10/06/a-closer-look-at-who-does-and-doesnt-pay-u-s-income-tax/) at PEW research to get some numbers. I use this sight because it’s as unbiased as any source on the internet. I’m not going to bore you with the math but present the final numbers. About 13.5 percent of workers in the U.S. make above the $132,900 cap. Those 13.5 percent pay approximately 74 percent of all the income taxes collected by the federal government. Estimated income tax revenues were approximately $1,660 billion dollars in 2018. Therefore, if the Social Security cap was removed the addition revenues would have been $76 billion ($1,660B X .74 X .062 = $76B). In addition, the employers of those individuals would contribute another $76 billion for a total tax increase of $152 billion. That doesn’t even cover what the federal government is spending each year to subsidize Obamacare.

This is what frustrates me about the Democratic Party. In 2018 the federal deficit was $782 billion and there are zero debates in Congress on how to reduce that. Instead all of the Democratic presidential candidates promise more spending. As an engineer, I know that if I drop a brick it will hit the ground. As a fiscal conservative I know that if I spend more than I make year after year, I will eventually go bankrupt. Somehow, no one on the left seems to get that concept. If they did, they would realize that president Trump is on track to finally start reducing the annual deficits by growing the economy and yet the Democrats fight him at every turn.

I’ll close this letter with another fact. In my letter (https://www.laconiadailysun.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/what-about-ask-not-what-your-country-can-do-for/article_00fa8340-404d-11e9-9565-f77562bf1f86.html) I calculated the total net worth of the top 100 richest people in America according to Forbes and it came to $1.87 trillion. If the federal government took all of it, that would support the country for about 5 months. The Democrats saying taxing the rich more will solve all the issues in this country is yet another lie they are selling to the American voters. Wake up!

Bruce Jenket

Moultonborough