What do the following people have in common?
– Bill Gates, billionaire owner of Microsoft.
– Warren Buffett (the last name as published has been corrected in this text), billionaire owner of Berkshire Hathaway.
– Michael Eisner, head of Walt Disney Co.
– Sylvester Stallone, actor, making $50 million a year.
– You, if you earn more than $62,000 a year.
– Your congressman.
The common factor is that each pays exactly $3,794 in Social Security taxes. Why do you pay the same amount as these wealthy people? Because the law says only the first $62,000 of earnings are taxed. So what happened the last time Congress dealt with a projected deficit in the Social Security fund? It raised your rate and reduced your benefits. Why didn’t they simply apply the tax to all income? Guess!
Now the hot subject in Congress is the Medicare/Medicaid deficit. The “only” solution the Republicans can think of to raise your rates and cut your benefits. Are you starting to see a pattern yet?
