They only take money for SS up to 106K? Why not have every thing earned then SS is saved? I know everyone here is against SS but if we can save it then it is a non issue for the Democrats!! HINT HINT. Sometimes you have to be smarter than the Democrats.
Social Security benefits are calculated according to the amount that you contribute. Removing the payroll tax cap would just boost the benefit for higher wage earners.
Unless, of course, you were to put a lower cap on benefits. But, that would make it an even worse deal for high wage earners.
If you calculated the effective rate on return of Social Security benefits (when accounting for contributions), the people at the low end of the income scale get a good deal. As you get up to the middle and upper middle income scale, the effective rate of return gets smaller and smaller, until it is about 1%.
Collecting more taxes from "the rich" without increasing benefits would make their effective rate of return negative. That's a classic Democrat scheme: soak the rich.
There's nothing "smart" about that.
And, the truth is: it wouldn't work. Most people with high salaries (six figures and up) have the ability to negotiate "flexible" compensation schemes. All they would have to do is shift "salary" into other income categories, like stock options. The income would still be taxable, but it wouldn't be subject to the payroll tax.
Because it is 15% friggin’ percent of income! I can think of a hell of a lot better ways to spend 15% of my gross income than to supplement a dying system that should have been means tested out of existence a long time ago.