by - Bernie Sanders met with Joe Biden to impose a tax on high-earning Americans to fund Social Security, The Washington Post reported.
- The current system taxes the first $160,200 of workers’ earnings, and many Democrats have called for that cap to be changed as the Social Security Trust fund faces bankruptcy.
- Biden had previously envisaged increasing taxes on the incomes of high earners to keep Social Security afloat.
Senator Bernie Sanders brought his Social Security concerns to the White House — and it seems the government is listening.
So says The Washington Post’s Jeff Stein, who reported Thursday that Sanders had a private meeting with President Joe Biden regarding the retirement program. According to the Post, Biden officials recently discussed a possible increase in payroll taxes on the wealthy, similar to Sanders’ plans.
Sanders lobbied for Biden to raise payroll taxes on high-earning Americans to fund Social Security for another 70 years if the program goes bankrupt over the next decade. Sanders’ proposal would raise the cap on how much income is subject to payroll tax paid on Social Security. Currently, the first $160,200 of employee income is taxed; Income beyond this remains untaxed.
At the suggestion of Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats, that cap would be removed and incomes over $250,000 would be subject to payroll taxes. They reintroduced that bill this month, showing that some Democrats are reacting to a possible renewed Republican push for Social Security and Medicare cuts.
According to a White House official, the White House hasn’t approved any specific bill — but the president welcomes suggestions from members of Congress on how to keep Social Security solvent and make the program even stronger.
The idea of an expanded payroll tax to prop up Social Security is not new to President Biden. During his campaign, Biden proposed increasing payroll taxes on those earning over $400,000 a year, which the Tax Policy Center estimates would raise $740 billion over ten years.
“The greatest threats to Social Security and Medicare are the efforts of House and Senate Republicans to root out a program that millions of Americans have contributed to since their first jobs as teenagers,” said Robyn Patterson, a White House spokeswoman, in in a statement to Insider This president has vowed to keep Medicare solvent and “will not budge” to pay out every penny of benefits.
“We look forward to Republicans sharing their plan with the American people as well, as they have promised to pass a budget this year,” Patterson added.
Though Social Security and Medicare have been the scene of partisan warfare for decades, 2023 is shaping up to be a particularly hot year as some Republicans ramp up their pressure for cuts after regaining control of the House of Representatives.
Reports show GOP lawmakers poised to use debt ceiling as leverage to get Biden administration to back down on spending cuts, potentially including changes to Medicare and Social Security; If the debt ceiling is not raised by the summer, the US could default on its debt for the first time in history, with dire consequences.
Sanders and Warren have been candid about federal pension programs in recent months.
“At a time when half of older Americans have no retirement savings and 55% of seniors are trying to survive on less than $25,000 a year, our job isn’t to cut Social Security or increase taxes for workers increase,” Sanders said wrote last month on Twitter. “Our job is to expand it so that all seniors can live with the dignity they deserve.”
