Dems should move to actively support raising soc sec cap [View All]

[amjucsc]

IMHO it's very important for the Dems to come up with a valid alternative to Bush's private accounts; while I doubt that Bush will be able to convince the country to accept private accounts, I suspect that he will succeed in convincing the American people that 'something' must be done to fix Social Security.

This is a golden opportunity for Dems, as it appears that one solution which most Americans may be willing to accept-- raising the $90,000 cap on income on which payroll taxes are collected-- is something that would probably be anathema to a lot of Republicans. We would do well to push for a lifting of the income caps, and accuse Congressional Reps of 'obstructionism' and 'not taking the problem seriously' when they attempt to block a tax hike for millionaires (er, making sure that 'everyone pays their fair share'). Hell we might even be able to score political points by accusing them of 'blocking President Bush's agenda'. Now wouldn't that be hilarious?

Anyway if we we can convince the American people that the Congressional Republicans 'don't take this extremely important problem seriously' we could stand to win big gains in the 2006 elections.

I also recommend reading Joe Conason's most recent Salon article on Bush privatization push:

<http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2005/03/05/social_security/index.html>

Excerpt: While most Americans worry that the Social Security system is in fiscal peril, their preferred solutions differ sharply from those offered by the president and his party. Not only do voters reject privatization but they also want no part of benefit cutbacks, revised wage and price indexes, or delayed retirement. Instead they strongly favor what the president, until two weeks ago, vowed he would never allow: increase the cap on Social Security taxes above the current $90,000 level.