Thursday, November 12, 2015

A new idea for Social Security

I don't know how many people are aware that our country's millionaires are NOT paying their fair share into the Social Security fund.  There is no easy way to explain it, but here goes:  If you make money at a job that deducts FICA from your paycheck, you're paying into Social Security.  You continue to pay a percentage of your income up until you make $106,000.  At that point, you stop contributing to the fund!!  You can make several million per year, but you stop paying FICA after the first $106k, each year.  That means that our country's richest citizens are not paying their fair share.  Most of us are encumbered by this throughout our working years.  Yet, CEOs who make a million a year will only pay %10 of what should be their fair share.

Many people, if they thought about it, would know that our problems with SS would be alleviated simply by telling the "1%" to pay up.  "You were fortunate enough to make this kind of money, therefore, you should be able to contribute to those of us who were not as fortunate as you, to compensate for your good fortune."

Elizabeth Warren - D, Mass.
Japan has an informal policy regarding the pay offered to CEOs.  What ends up happening is, the CEO of the average Japanese corporation will only take 1000% of the average worker's pay.  In other words, if the average pay for a factory worker in Japan was USD$65,000, the pay of the CEO of that corporation would be approximately USD$650,000.  When was the last time you heard of an American CEO making that seemingly low wage?  I heard about this practice several years ago, and I can't say that the practice is still in effect, but it sounds like a good idea, doesn't it?

Elizabeth Warren is the Democratic Senator from Massachusetts.  She has a new plan for those of us on Social Security.  She lays out her plan this way.  I say that it's high-time that there was a cost-of-living increase that reflected the real numbers that those of us on SS have to deal with.  Medications cost more.  Utility bills are going up, steadily.  The only reason that SS hasn't seen a COL adjustment is that gas prices are going down.

Bernie Sanders - I, Vermont
Democratic Presidential Candidate
Bernie Sanders came up with a plan to improve our healthcare.  This plan does one thing.  It removes two words from the Medicare prerequisites.  Those words?  "Over Sixty-five".  Basically, give Medicare to EVERYONE!    Now there are those who believe that this will raise taxes to compensate for the cost.  Listen folks, you already have deductions from you check for health insurance.  The average cost of the average taxpayer is near $150 per month.  That's $1800 per year.  As a Social Security recipient, I already have to pay $104 each month for Medicare.  If every worker in America paid into the fund, that amount (the $104) would go down, and the average worker would see an increase in their net pay.

Once again, I'm going to ask you to check the Republican plan for SS and Medicare.  Do the research and tell Washington D.C. what you want to see in your future...

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