I would first like to point out that I never thought this would be possible, and second, I never thought that the Bush administration would be taking the more rational side of things. According to the NYT,
The Republican majority leader in the House expressed opposition on Thursday to the idea of increasing or eliminating the cap on earnings subject to the Social Security payroll tax, deflating President Bush's first effort to promote bipartisan trust over how to address the retirement system's projected financial troubles.
Just... wow. Of course when they majority leader they're referring to Delay, who's as crooked as Gannon giving Bush a reacharound, but Hastert is also on board. Their logic is that removing the cap, which you only pay SS taxes up to and is adjusted every few years to the CPI and is currently at 90k, would be a tax and taxes are no-nos. Someone should remind him of the buget deficit or his salary if he doesn't like taxes. My favorite quote is this:
[Delay] added: "Besides, that's not fundamental reform, it won't do anything. If you completely remove the cap, it buys you six years; that's not good."
First off, this is a perfect example of reform. It makes it a truly progressive tax. Talking point: Republicans are not progressive, they would rather have the poor bear a higher proportion of taxes than a progressive would. Second, the line about six years is just patently false. Eliminating the cap would help SS run a surplus indefinitely. Note the numbers they're obfuscating here. The trust fund runs a deficit. That doesn't mean SS is insolvent by any means. For more information, check out There Is No Crisis. If Bush's SS plan fails and he splits with his own party I think we could finally see the beginning of the end.
I can't believe Bush agrees with me on something. I need to go take a shower.
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