Late Friday night I created a petition on the White House's website using a new tool the administration launched last week for petitioning the administration on important issues. Mine is about fixing Social Security:
Make Social Security solvent in perpetuity without having to cut benefits or raising the retirement age.
As more income in our economy has shifted to upper brackets and as income that's not subject to Social Security withholding. Furthermore, capital gains (income generated through investment) are not subject to withholding.
Combined with the Bush tax giveaways, the very wealthy pay an overall effective tax rate that is less than middle and lower income wage earners.
It's led to the Social Security being in trouble long-term. Instead of cutting benefits, or increasing the retirement age simply remove the cap (currently the first $106,800 wages) & subject ALL income to withholding.
Lifting the cap & subjecting capital gains to FICA withholding would increase the revenue enough to make it not only permanently solvent but would run at a profit & allow benefits to be increased (for everyone).
I would like to ask the favor of having you sign the petition so if it gets 5,000 signatures, it will get looked at by the administration and they will issue an official response to the idea.
The link is: Http://wh.gov/gLJ
There is a 150 signature threshold before it is publicly viewable on the White House website. So far, we have managed to get over a dozen signatures, even when my timing on launching the petition was less than opportune (late at the start of a weekend is not ideal).
If everyone could sign it, and share a link to it on Facebook and/or anywhere else to get exposure, and help actively encourage friends and family to sign the petition as well, that would great.