At the level of the press and as presented by our elected officials this national debate on American's safety net is going poorly. It sounds like class warfare and it sounds like we may lose, again! So how about a push that could get some of the winners on the side of the people?
Really not as far fetched as it sounds, a means of softening the battle lines in the class warfare. Something fresh to explore in this endless assault on Social Security. Since we already have logic on the side of the masses and softening the disparity between the rich and the middle class working American is popular, we could use another pump.
It's sort of like Uncap and Trade. Someone who makes around $400,000 a year and is writing letters in strong support of keeping the Social Security cap in place might just feel differently if it means about $72,000 per year in secure income from the government when that high wage earner turns 65. Not all of course but stereotyping the rich as wanting every penny to invest in hedge funds and having little to no interest in the well-being of less affluent workers is unfair.
Perhaps adjusting the cap on benefits to adjust the cap on Social Security tax in nothing more than a topic that would be limited to a few progressive bloggers. It would be a massive undertaking to get the topic into Americans living rooms and perhaps impossible to get such an idea addressed by elected officials.
Obviously the Republicans, masters of the red herrings, would scream about socialism but only if they were forced to address the topic. If a means of getting the rich interested in investing in Social Security did enter the national debate and then got off the ground, then this sentence in fake consultant's diary is food for thought.
Imagine, if you will, just how easy it would be to launch a political attack on a government program that pays $162,000 a year to rich people...and if you can imagine that, you can probably imagine just how much political trouble this approach could cause.
This endless assault on Social Security must stop and presenting people who mark their calendars with a Social Security tax freedom day the alternative of a higher Social Security income could be just the thing. It could get several high wage earners in the nation to start saying "You know that Pete Peterson is one heartless bastard."
Sadly as the debate continues with the false claim that Social Security is the problem, it seems obvious that our elected officials only listen to the highest wage earners. We could use a few of them on our side.
Comments are closed on this story.