>>We have partial means testing already—it’s called including SS payments in gross income. <<
There’s another way we have partial means testing. If you made more than a set maximum amount each year of your working life, your contributions ceased that year. How’s that means testing, you might ask?
Your SS payments in retirement are based on what you paid in, not on your total salary each year. If you made a million dollars, you aren’t getting paid SS based on that million, but rather on the salary cap for that year, which back in the 1970’s was as low as $10-15,000.
In other words, those well off throughout their working years are only earning SS based on a small portion of their actual earnings.
Besides, for a guy who wants to abolish the IRS, means-testing can get to be a really messy financial calculation.
I’m very OK with capping the salary level at which you contribute to SS. If you’re doing well and capable of saving—rather than being forced to thru SS—you should do a lot better doing it yourself than having the government do it.
With respect to Ted’s comment about means testing Social Security, you’re right, it could get messy without the IRS. I suppose you could key it off of the flat tax revenues, however they are monitored. The worst policy would be to inquire as to wealth. Wealth taxes are the leftist wet dream, and it would be a shame to have that happen in a misguided conservative quest for fairness. Cruz is a smart guy, however, so I doubt he’d go that way given the opportunity to think it through.