Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Saturday that one of his top priorities, once he takes control of the chamberās Social Security Subcommittee in January, will be to lift the cap on taxable income that funds the program and increase benefit payments by at least $2400 per year.
I love most things Bernie does, but this is idiotic. Why are we talking about increasing benefits, when the system is going to have to cut benefits in just 7 years when the trust fund runs out?
Iām all for eliminating the tax cap, but those funds should be used entirely for stabilizing the system. The Boomers are already the richest generation in American history. Their children are poorer than they are. And each generation after is poorer still. We should be focused on ensuring that the future poorer generations can enjoy the same level of benefits that todayās Boomer retirees can get, rather than giving the wealthy Boomers even more money.
And before anyone says, āwhy not do both?ā Because thereās finite money here. Every penny that goes to increasing benefits now is one less penny to secure the systemās long-term future. Removing the cap entirely and putting 100% of the money to extending program solvency would only extend the systemās solvency to 2055. Itās a good idea to do this, but removing the cap is not an infinite money glitch. Thereās only so many dollars to be had. And frankly, the Boomers have enough dollars already. Letās make sure Millennials and Gen Z will get the same level of benefits Boomers enjoy before we go giving Boomers even more money. When the Social Security trust fundās exhaustion date has been extended to āforever,ā then we can talk about raising benefits for existing retirees.
Sure, you can say, āletās do both and raise other taxes,ā but again, finite dollars. If weāre going to be raising taxes for benefits, I would rather those dollars go to Medicare for All rather than raising the Social Security benefits for the wealthiest generation in American history.
Wtf TIL social security tax is capped at $184,500 income level. The rich really fucked us working class for decades
Yea, weather you make $184,500 or a billion you pay the same into SS. Pretty dumb, but a really easy way to help overcome the SS deficit.
SS contributions have a cap because SS payouts have a cap and the payout is proportional to what you paid in.
The contribution cap is a popular talking point, but they always ignore that youād also need to increase the payout cap, so itās not exactly a silver bullet.
You donāt need to increase the payout cap.
That can be fixed.
āScrap the capā! Hey, it rhymes!
If your assets total more than $10M, you need to contribute 1% of that to social security annually.
More than solves our problems. And if you really wanted 2 yachts and this gets in the way of that, news flash, youāre too poor for a second yacht. Complain less and go be that rock star capitalist we all know you are and snow us that this doesnāt change your lifestyle.
Top priority should be removing the cap on deductions so itās funded.
Then once the wealthy are paying into it, increase payments.
We could probably spend less money on the baby killing machine that makes psychopath soldiers.
What!? And let our military shrink to only 600% the size of the next largest military ?
Itās funny how some people, (not you frisbird) who claim to be lefties and say they hate Trump, go ape shit the moment you touch the military budget.
Fucking posers.
āI needed education in my shitty country so I killed people but that makes me okay because my country is shitty! Iām innocentā
Why is there no guillotine emoji?
Why is there no guillotine emoji?
Same reason the š« emoji renders as a squirt gun these days, probably.
I would be happy with a squirt guillotine
We can obviously spend less on the military, but thatās not how OASDI is fundedā¦
You also donāt know anything about the military apparently
They can free up that money and allocate it elsewhere.
ETA Pentagon never passed an audit.
The military industrial complex is not complex if you have half a brain.
I really need to start checking account agesā¦
https://lemmy.world/post/54084389/26765695
Youāre running around saying:
No I think Dems need to kill a few people. They wonāt of course and this comment will be moderated to keep Americans from rising up! ;)
And calling other people psychopaths
I always check account ages. Anything your age is suspiciously part of the problem.
Enjoy the country you definitely fought to make like this.
š«
Enjoy the country you definitely fought to make like this.
So now I fought against the American military?
Iām not sure about increasing payments. BBB followed through on election bribe to reduce taxes on the income. it got a big inflation raise this year. 2032 SS fund 0 date is a path to use extra SS tax funding to extend that date for the benefit of those who will pay the higher SS taxes. Bernie says stupid shit sometimes, and more transfer funding to seniors is once again asking you to listen to experts telling you how dumb Bernie is.
Yes, letās make seniors, the most coddled generation in history, our first priority.
Edit: Iām not saying we shouldnāt do this. Iām saying itās obvious that boomer seniors, as a generation, are the most privileged people in this countryās history, both because of economic environment and by government benefits across their life span.
Donāt shoot the messenger.
Its the 1% vs the working class, not generation vs generation.
Yes, letās make seniors, the most coddled generation in history, our first priority.
Straw-man argument. The article never says itās his first priority. It says it is a top priority, not the top priority. Bernie keeps a lot of irons in the fire and works on a lot of issues at the same time.
Yeah and also one of the top priorities of the social security subcommittee.
There are actually two different groups of boomers, the early born ones, and the later born ones. The latter didnāt have the opportunities the former had after WWII. The boomers born from 1960 to 1964 were going to be grouped as Gen X, but that was dropped and they now have a āGeneration Jonesā.
As Jonesers reached adulthood, the United States military draft and involvement in the Vietnam War had ended; thus, they had no defining political cause, as opposition to the war was for the older Boomers.[20] The Woodstock music festival (1969) was a defining moment for older Boomers, whereas Jonesers tend to remember the Watergate scandal (1972ā74) and the cultural cynicism it begat.[6] While in high school, members of Generation Jones felt they had just missed the real hippie era.[21] Key characteristics assigned to members are pessimism, distrust of government, and general cynicism.[22][23]
Thatās certainly a take I suppose.
But yeah, letās not shore up Social Security for all Americans including future generations to be able to not go homeless after they suffer a disability or worked until their bodies are broken and just keep the future generations working until they die at work.
Sounds like a great plan there, letās be short sighted to be a petty bitch.
If weāre worried about homelessness, why isnāt housing the first priority?
Yeah, no moving goal post here buddy.
Iām not. Youāre intrepreting me as saying I donāt think we should raise SS. I think we should. Iām asking why it should be the first priority. You reply we should do it first to prevent homelessnessāso you are introducing an issue that is more important.
First off, letās get the wording clear here. The statement was āone of his top prioritiesā not first priority.
Second, if you think that we should remove the cap off of social security then weāre done here. You, think that the removal of the cap is necessary, I think itās necessary, Sanders thinks itās necessary. Weāre all in agreement, huzzah! The fact that if itās first, second, third, which again was not the wording being used, is moot outside of your disdain of the elderly.
we should increase the rate above the cap to make up for, uh, letās sell it as undoing a communism.
Huzzah!
Iām with you, dealing with ice needs to be priority one.
Young people receive social security benefits too, like SSDI and survivor payments. Iāve been on SSDI myself since before I was 30 years old.
Iāve been on, too. But why are people with plenty of assistance already the first priority? Just seems weird and indicative of leadership ignoring younger generationās problems and prioritizing boomers, but Iām not against it, of course.
Honestly $200 extra a month might help ease the burden on our loved ones, thatās only two weeks of groceries for a lot of households right now. Just a personal example, the entirety of my grandmotherās benefits goes to her housing (high cola). My uncle pays her medical bills, and heās the only one who has any money to spare. My sibling buys her groceries. I buy her clothing and other necessities as I can, but Iām essentially in the same financial situation she is. The rest of her family is dead, and in 3-5 years she may only have my sibling left to help her.
So, yes, Bernie might be slapping a bandaid on this elderly poverty problem with a possibly easy win, but itās a starting point for further taxing the billionaires. And if weāre lucky the momentum from that will also fix education, medical access, housing, and the rest of what we know we need as a healthy society
Itās not really taxing billionaires since SS taxes income on labor, but I agree, itās necessary to do, along with a long list of other things that need more involved legislative scaffolding.
plenty of assistance
Well, you clearly donāt know what social security pays. Please do a little googling and educate yourself.
All the other forms of assistance seniors qualify for, including low-cost transportation, low-cost housing options, food delivery, tax relief, not to mention medicare, etc.
20-somethings struggling to find work have much fewer supports.
Please educate yourself.
Willful ignorance is such a sad thing to see. Good-bye.
https://aging.ca.gov/Programs_and_Services/
People are so fucking stupid when they get tribal.
You realize a substantial portion are poor?
Iāll be one of them in not too long. Right now Iām just poor.
Then you should know better. Keep the
TACtax on social security income, for payments over a certain amount.Crappy Auto-Incorrect
Crab bucket crab bucket š¦š¦š¦
We could do this and all the other things at the same time. If this is one thing on a laundry list of fixes, would you object to it just because you arenāt getting social security yet? Singling out an aid for people to not get because of who they are and/or because you wonāt get that benefit is what we complain about with MAGA.
I put this next to the quote from veterans who say āI donāt agree with what you say, but I fought for your rights to say it.ā Iām right with you on blaming Boomers for where we are and why, but Iāll still support making sure old people donāt have to decide between rent, meds, or food. Even if some of them are hypocrites who made the world this way after being handed everything.
Iām onboard, too, just wondering what it means that itās the first priority. I hope itās just that itās the easiest way to help the most people in the least time.
You highlighted the word āfirstā there. I donāt see that word used at all in the article. Even the headline says removing the SS Cap is āAā top priority, not āTheā top priority. The text of the article refers to it as one of the top priorities.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Saturday that one of his top priorities , once he takes control of the chamberās Social Security Subcommittee in January, will be to lift the cap on taxable income that funds the program and increase benefit payments by at least $2400 per year.
Another article I just read listed some of those other priorities if he does reclaim the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
- Rescind Trumpās Big Beautiful Bill
- Work towards Medicare for All
- Advance the PRO Act in the Senate that would make it easier for Americans to join a union
- Raise federal minimum wage
He also wants to work on all of these, not just one at a time saying:
The new Democratic-controlled Congress will need to be good, he said, at āwalking and chewing bubblegum at the same time.ā
Have you ever heard of selfish altruism?
There are so so so many of these seniors. They made so many of 'em back in the day, the birth chart boomed with goddamn babies!
It is in the best interest of everyone in society south of 55 years old, that the 65+ year olds are taken care of by the Stateās (if we must have a State, I guessā¦) social nets, and that they are robust.
Not just because time comes for us all, but because the rest of the systemās bullshit would prevent communities from caring for their own seniors without the younger members going destitute and burnt out on their now third job.
