I encountered something scary
One of the biggest challenges facing social security is ensuring that there is enough funding to sustain the program over the long term. While there are a variety of proposed solutions to this problem, one potential approach would be to remove the $160,000 limit for payroll deduction.
Currently, social security taxes are only collected on the first $160,000 of income earned each year. This means that high earners who make more than this amount are not required to pay social security taxes on any income above this threshold. While this may seem like a fair policy on the surface, it has resulted in significant revenue losses for the social security program.
By removing the $160,000 limit for payroll deduction, all workers would be required to pay social security taxes on every dollar they earn. This would result in a significant increase in revenue for the program, which could help to ensure its long-term financial sustainability.
However, there are potential downsides to this approach as well. For one, removing the payroll deduction limit could be seen as unfairly burdening high earners with additional taxes. Additionally, it is possible that such a policy change could result in decreased incentives for workers to earn higher incomes.
Ultimately, the question of whether or not to remove the $160,000 limit for payroll deduction will depend on a range of factors, including the overall health and stability of the social security program, the views of policymakers and taxpayers, and societal attitudes towards taxation and government spending. While there are no easy answers to these complex issues, thoughtful discussion and debate can help to move us closer to effective solutions for social security and other critical social programs.
Spoiler alert to readers! I did not write any of the words above this paragraph. I asked my app, Chat Al, to write about removing the payroll deduction cap for social security at $160,200. This has been a simple solution for some time, but legislators would have to vote against their own self-interest. If, on your first read, you believed that the words above this paragraph were written by a human, then I worry about our future.
