George F. Will Is an Idiot

Will, writing on Obama's proposal to lift the earnings cap on wages, talks about the middle class folk who will be hurt, and gives the following example:

You favor eliminating the cap on earnings subject to the 12.4 percent Social Security tax, which now covers only the first $102,000. A Chicago police officer married to a Chicago public-school teacher, each with 20 years on the job, have a household income of $147,501, so you would take another $5,642 from them. Are they undertaxed? Are they rich?

Dude, the $102K limit is per individual. Their tax load does not change, they are both taxed on their total earnings.

Truth be told, I don't think that there is a problem with Social Security, but there is one with Medicare, so here is my suggestion about how to fix that:

• End the cap on employers' part of the Social Security tax, and devote the additional revenue to Medicare and Medicaid.
• Broaden the definition of earnings to include things like the sweetheart deals that senior executives get.
• Tax the employee's part of income at levels above $1 million.
• This would mean that there is a "notch" between $102K and $1M. You can call it the Paris Hilton tax.

It would go a long way toward fixing the problem, and it is a much easier political sell.