I read this one last night and the first thing I thought was “hey, that sounds familiar”. Barack Obama unveiled an idea for changing the payroll tax system for social security, hoping to fix the current problem of “lower-income families are taxed on all their earnings but rich people aren’t”. Thus, the “donut hole” idea:
Now, the first $102,000 in salary is taxed at 6.2 percent. In specifically setting for the first time where he wants to apply further payroll taxes, Obama’s proposal would create a so-called donut hole, because income between $102,000 and $250,000 wouldn’t be taxed.
“Right now, the Social Security payroll tax is capped,” Obama said in Columbus, Ohio, on day five of his economic tour of battleground states. “That means most middle-class families pay this tax on every dime they make, while millionaires and billionaires are only paying it on a very small percentage of their income. That’s why I think the best way forward is to adjust the cap on the payroll tax so that people like me pay a little bit more and people in need are protected. That way we can extend the promise of Social Security without shifting the burden onto seniors.”
If that sounds familiar, it should. Al Franken came up with the idea back in 2005 when he wrote The Truth (with jokes).
Just you wait, we’re gonna get more right-wingers calling plagiarism. Yessir, it’s on the way. Still, a good idea, says I. Basically leave things the same except for the top 1% of the population.
