Posted on 02/24/2017 10:47:48 AM PST by SeekAndFind
WASHINGTON – Congressional Democrats introduced a bill that would increase the investment gains tax by 6.2 percent for households with adjusted gross income of $250,000 and above to pay for an expansion of Social Security.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), sponsor of the Social Security Expansion Act in the Senate, said the proposed “net investment income tax” increase from 3.8 percent to 10 percent would make “millionaires and billionaires” pay more in taxes to expand Social Security and extend the life of the program. The investment gains tax originally became law as part of Obamacare.
“Everybody in this room knows that Social Security hasn’t added a nickel to the debt. It’s tax breaks for billionaires and the war in Iraq and an inflated military budget that in fact led to the high deficits and the national debt,” Sanders said during a press conference on Capitol Hill last week with the organization Social Security Works.
“Starting at $250,000 and going up, the top one and a half percent will be paying more in taxes, and at a time of massive income inequality that is appropriate. And what will we do with that additional revenue? We are going to extend the life of Social Security for 61 years. How’s that? And we’re going to expand benefits, not cut them,” he added.
Sanders said seniors earning less than $16,000 per year would see their Social Security benefits go up by about $1,300 each year with the bill in effect.
“We can expand benefits. We can extend the life of Social Security if we have the guts to tell the millionaires and the billionaires yes they are going to have to pay a bit more in taxes,” he said.
In addition to Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and other members were on hand to announce the legislation.
Warren criticized President Trump for nominating Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) as director of the Office of Management of Budget.
“Donald Trump has already turned his back on his promise to protect Social Security. He has turned his back on millions of seniors. What’s he doing? He has put Congressman Mulvaney in charge of the Office of Management and Budget. This is a man who says we just need to raise the retirement age to 70 – talk about a man who has never done any heavy lifting for work, right?” Warren said at the news conference. “He says it’s perfectly reasonable to cut Social Security.”
If passed and signed into law by Trump, the legislation would apply the payroll tax to income above $250,000 and raise the Social Security tax on investment income from 3.8 percent to 10 percent.
According to the text of the bill, 62 percent of the investment income tax revenue would be distributed to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and 9 percent would be applied to the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund.
The new revenue collected would help pay for increasing the “primary insurance amount” for qualified beneficiaries starting in 2021 and “revise computation of cost-of-living adjustments to use the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers.”
Sanders said Trump should support their bill since he pledged not to cut Social Security during the presidential campaign.
“I think Trump was as clear as he could be and if he goes back on these words, he is lying to the American people,” Sanders said after reading past quotes from Trump about protecting Social Security.
IOW, kill all investments so people with money will take it to other countries where you can’t get at it, the SS will not get any expansion..........
You can’t fix stupid.
Socialist Sanders, go move to your bribed “vacation home” and STHU. You are beyond a fool.
These morons NEVER LEARN.
People with money to invest will not sit idly by and let the government take it from them. They will move it off shore and into diversified holdings and wait until the greedy Dems get creamed again................
Raise Taxes, Import Muslims and low-skill third-worlders.
That’s pretty much the plan.
At those tax rates, I can move mine into tax privileged bonds. Smaller returns, but it avoids the tax and sticks it to the marxist a-holes.
Uh, OK.
When we get these ILLEGAL ALIENS off our systems, then SS will increase...when we bring JOBS back into the United States for Real Americans, then SS will increase...when we get the wall built, so we don't have invaders, then SS will increase...
This is NOT a FREE Country, you come in on a LEGAL visa, and become a Citizen of this Country and then work and pay taxes and assimilate to OUR laws and OUR way of life, if you don't like that, then STAY OUT!!!
No, but you can kick it in the face and make it go away.
Three months ago they were selling the idea that Social Security was on the cusp of going broke.
Now they want to expand it.
I don’t know if the SS retirement and disability benefit funds are separate? But they could certainly cull down the SS disability roles and tighten up the eligibility again. IIRC, the number of SSDI benefit recipients has skyrocketed under 0bama.
The Dems always see the economics as a static situation when it never is. They assume that just because they pass some tax bill that penalizes the rich that the rich will just sit there and take it.
Just a couple of days ago, the ‘sugar’ tax in Philly as example. The mayor was astounded that the tax that was levied on the beverage industry was PASSED ON TO THE CONSUMER! He was angry that the corporations would do such a thing!. He is a complete and utter fool..................
If 62% of the added revenue goes to one trust fund and 9% goes to another trust fund, where does the other 29% go?
We are $20,000,000,000,000 in Debt. We shouldn’t be “expanding” anything.
We should be cracking down on SS Disability Fraud and Medicare Fraud instead.
Giving Alcoholics, Druggies and everyone who is stressed out by Life SS Disability is ridiculous. All I see whenever I watch Daytime TV are Ads from SS Disability Lawyers. There is a serious problem when that is happening.
Never see the people in those Ads giving Testimonials sitting in a Wheelchair or missing Limbs. Ridiculous.
So, tax retirements funds to pay for retirement funds...just BRILLIANT./s
Let me get this straight. Social Security is going broke and Sanders wants to expand it. Oh my, talk about brain dead.
The reason Social Security is in trouble is (other than them raiding the fund) that it has been expanded into areas it was never meant/designed to go. They just love throwing good money after bad in an attempt to buy votes from those who pay nothing....
Amazing how people who’ve never had to make a payroll can tell others what to do with their money just so they can stay in the sinate.
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