They obviously did not go into government to solve America's problems.
Obama backs lifting income cap for Social Security
By Kim Dixon
WASHINGTON | Tue Apr 19, 2011 5:47pm EDT
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that boosting the amount of individual income subject to Social Security taxes should be considered as a way to put the retirement program on a stronger fiscal footing.
The president's deficit commission late last year proposed raising the income cap on Social Security taxes, now at about $107,000, but Obama has shied away from supporting specific proposals.
Many Republicans criticize the idea as a tax hike.
Neither political party has wanted to touch the government-run program, in part due to its popularity among seniors, a crucial voting bloc. But it is seen as much easier to fix than tackling government-run healthcare programs.
Obama noted that Social Security has not been a driver of budget deficits, though the program will be unable to pay out full benefits to retirees in a few decades. For that reason he said "tweaks" are needed to stabilize the program's finances.
"For the vast majority of Americans, every dime you earn, you're paying some in Social Security," Obama told college students in Virginia. "But for (billionaire investor) Warren Buffett, he stops paying at a little bit over $100,000 and then the next $50 billion he's not paying a dime in Social Security taxes."
"If we just made a little bit of an adjustment in terms of the cap on Social Security, that would do a significant amount to stabilize the system," Obama said.
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