If Congress just removed the $113,700 CAP for Social Security taxes, and taxed all investment income (aka capital gains aka unearned income aka passive income) as REGULAR income according to the current marginal tax rates, and taxed 100% of that income for Social Security and Medicare (just like most of us have to pay), there wouldn't be any problem with the national debt.
But because the top 1% doesn't need Social Security and Medicare, they don't want to help pay for these programs-slash-entitlements.
Instead, they'd prefer that we bust our backs all our working lives (for 52 years) making profits for them until we're 70 years old, and then, just before we could even qualify for either of these two programs, hope that we won't be around to use them. And all during that time, if they could, they'd only pay us the minimum wage for all of those 52 years --- so that we couldn't even afford to save for any kind of retirement --- or pay for any type of suitable healthcare plan.
That's why they have offshore tax shelters...in case one day WE ALL (Democratic and Republican voters alike) demand these things from our Congress.
House Speaker John Boehner says "President Obama deserves some credit for what Boehner calls incremental entitlement reforms in his budget proposal." But when someone who takes bribes from tobacco lobbyists on the House floor says that the proposed budget is a "good" idea, then most likely it's not a very good deal for the unemployed, the working poor, the veterans, the disabled, the elderly or middle-class Americans.
Robert Reich says "Bi-partisanship we don't need, not if the President offers to cut Social Security, and the Republicans agree."
Jared Bernstein says of the proposed tax increases on the rich, "This is the price to the Republicans for cuts to Medicare and Social Security, and thus far, they've been adamant that they will not compromise. If that's so, then they should never be able to speak the words "grand bargain" again, as that's what's being offered here: entitlement cuts for new revenues."
It's very simple: (1) Remove the $113,700 CAP on Social Security taxes, (2) tax all capital gains as REGULAR income according to the current marginal tax rates, and (3) tax 100% of all capital gains income for Social Security and Medicare. Any future surpluses can be used for the next banking crisis (Not if, but when.)
Easy Peasy! Please take my poll. NOTE: Those who are earning over $113,700 a year are disqualified from voting ;)