Eliminating payroll tax would destroy Social Security

Of all the trial balloons that have been floated in Washington this spring, one in particular needs to be shot down before it gains altitude: eliminating the Social Security payroll tax and instead funding the program with general revenues. It is not clear how seriously this idea is being considered. But it is a terrible proposal that would end Social Security as we know it, which would hurt the 3 million Florida retirees who count on their benefits for a modicum of financial security.

For more than 80 years, Social Security has been funded by hardworking Americans through the payroll tax in exchange for guaranteed benefits upon retirement, disability or death. As such, it is a budget-neutral program that doesn’t contribute a penny to the deficit. The relationship between earnings and benefits is a fundamental feature of the program, one that would be completely undermined if it were no longer funded by a payroll tax.

George W. Bush attempted to privatize Social Security in 2005 and paid a hefty political price. Republicans in Congress recently introduced legislation to raise the retirement age, lower cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) and effectively cut benefits by 30 percent.

These budget hawks use the canard that Social Security is going “bankrupt” and needs radical change. The truth is: If Congress does nothing, the Social Security Trust Fund’s reserves will become depleted in 2034, after which it still would be able to pay 79 percent of benefits. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Connecticut Rep. John Larson have proposed to keep Social Security solvent for most of this century while modestly increasing benefits, simply by asking the wealthy to pay their fair share. Both propose to adjust the income cap on the payroll tax which now stands at $127,200. Larson also wants to increase the tax by 1.2 percent over 25 years. For a worker earning $50,000 annually, that would mean an extra 50 cents each week — or the cost of a Starbucks coffee every nine weeks.

We must look toward these modest and manageable solutions to ensure that Social Security is there for present and future retirees. The program is simply too important, too crucial to our seniors’ lives.