Bush May Agree to Raise Social Security Tax Ceiling

[papau]

"Creating private accounts through more federal borrowing, Greenspan said, would be a wash, with each dollar saved in a private account offset by a dollar borrowed from the public. "Moving to a forced savings account technically does not materially affect net national savings," he said. "It merely moves savings from the government account to a private account." (.....the devil is in the details of how to create them — and a slow, gradual method of borrowing is preferable.) ....Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York said his fellow Democrats viewed it as "a bit of a ruse" that would probably end with the White House's disavowing any willingness to consider tax increases.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27890-2005Feb16.html

washingtonpost.com
Borrow Cautiously, Greenspan Advises
Bush May Agree to Raise Social Security Tax Ceiling
By Nell Henderson and Jim VandeHei
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, February 17, 2005; Page A01


Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned Congress yesterday to go slow in borrowing to create personal Social Security accounts, after the White House suggested for the first time that it might accept an increase in payroll-tax revenue to bolster the system's finances.<snip>

Bush has raised for the first time the possibility of accepting higher ceilings on wages subject to the Social Security payroll tax. Currently, the tax is paid on only the first $90,000 of a worker's annual income. The limit rises every year but some lawmakers have proposed bigger increases.

Speaking to reporters from regional newspapers Tuesday, the president continued to rule out raising the 12.4 percent payroll tax rate, of which half is paid by workers and half by employers.

"The one thing I'm not open-minded about is raising the payroll tax rate. And all the other issues go on the table," Bush said, according to an account yesterday in the New Haven (Conn.) Register.

Lifting the cap on wages subject to the tax would raise taxes for all workers earning over the current ceiling. For example, raising the cap to $140,000, as some lawmakers support, would result in an additional $3,100 tax payment for Americans earning that amount or more. For the self-employed, who pay both the individual and employer portion, the tax would go up $6,200 for those making $140,000 or more.<snip>

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. Time to spam him with "BUT YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T RAISE TAXES!"

[papau]

2. Poll Shows Americans Are Wary Of Bush's Plans for Social Security

Does anyone not working in the Whitehouse believe the 4.5 trillion of extra borrowing for these transition costs would not increase the national debt because it would simply be replacing "implicit" debt in the form of unfunded future benefit obligations with regular treasury bonds? - Heck even Greenspan was skeptical as to market reaction.

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/0,,SB110859541004757009-s799ku7x_ZMrE0RCUxNupWqYing_20050318,00.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top

Poll Shows Americans Are Wary
Of Bush's Plans for Social Security

By JOHN HARWOOD
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
February 16, 2005 6:35 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- Americans remain wary of President Bush's idea for overhauling Social Security, but show increasing confidence over developments in Iraq, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll has found.

The survey of 1,008 adults, conducted Feb. 10-14, found that 51% Americans consider it "a bad idea" to change Social Security by allowing workers to invest payroll taxes in the stock market, while 40% think it's a "good idea." That is essentially unchanged since January, despite Mr. Bush's attempt to drum up support for the idea in the State of the Union address and a cross-country tour. The margin of error is 3.1 percentage points.

In a further sign of trouble for Mr. Bush, 60% of those who consider private Social Security investments a bad idea describe their position as "completely firm." By contrast, just 31% of proponents describe themselves that way; 68% say they could yet change their minds.

Among options for shoring up the solvency of Social Security, the most popular among those polled was limiting benefits paid out to wealthy retirees. The poll shows that Americans endorse that idea by a 64%-32% margin. Least popular is increasing the retirement age, which Americans oppose by 62%-32%. Increasing the revenue from the Social Security payroll tax -- an option Mr. Bush left open in a newspaper interview published Wednesday -- draws 51% support.
<snip>

[Festivito]

4. I trust he just will NOT TAX THE UBER-RICH.

With this subtle change in the regressivity of the SS tax, should the top payments change as well.

With this his 3% tribute of the poor to the rich tax cut can be made permanent. How wonderful for RepubliCONs.

[nodictators]

3. Also from the posted article:

A White House official said Bush purposely opened the door to what amounts to a tax increase for high-income workers to signal to Congress his willingness to compromise to win approval of private Social Security accounts. "Just because he said it was an option does not mean he embraced it," spokesman Duffy said.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1802&ncid=1802&e=3&u=/washpost/20050217/ts_washpost/a27890_2005feb16


In other words, more sucker-bait.

As Sen. Boxer noted, the personal accounts are the mechanism that will DESTROY Social Security.

That's why he wants personal accounts first. Then, SS will indeed be in terminal "crisis."