GOP says it wants) Options Sought on Social Security Proposal

Seems Senator L. Graham has proposed financing the accounts by raising the maximum income subject to Social Security taxation from $90,000 to $120,000 - a bit of a cave from the 200,000 wage cap that he put on the table last week in his plan to fund separate accounts. But he still wants to take money from payroll tax - and the Dems are united in saying no.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22186-2005Jan19.html

Options Sought on Social Security Proposal

GOP Lawmaker Wants Alternatives to Diverting Payroll Taxes for Bipartisan Support
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 20, 2005; Page A02


A key House Republican leader on Social Security said yesterday he has begun exploring ways to finance a restructured Social Security system other than through diverting payroll taxes from current beneficiaries.

The comments by Rep. Jim McCrery (La.), chairman of the Ways and Means subcommittee on Social Security, signaled a significant step away from President Bush's Social Security plans. And they fleshed out a point alluded to by House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) on Tuesday: To break the partisan stalemate on Social Security, Republicans may have to finance their proposed personal investment accounts through some mechanism other than the 12.4 percent Social Security tax.

<snip>

Democrats say they would accept personal investment accounts, but they will not accept diverting taxes now destined to Social Security beneficiaries to fund those accounts, as virtually all payroll taxes are.

"If the price of admission is the diversion of any money out of Social Security, we're not going to be a part of it," said Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), a specialist on retirement issues.

The answer, Sperling said, is to give Republicans the accounts but finance them through some other source of taxation. Sperling has proposed a 3 percent surcharge on incomes more than $200,000. Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), the new chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, has suggested financing "universal 401(k) accounts" by maintaining inheritance taxes on the largest estates.<snip>

Leave your greedy F**king hands off my money and pay up as promised.