[americanbychoice]

If you pay 12.4% of the capped amount of $ 87 000 (2003) your benefits are also calculated at that amount, not of your total earnings. (again, a washout)
What about the 2.9% going into medicare that is not income capped? Does that mean that the 8 million dollar person receives a hundred times the medical care? No! Medicare is just more expensive.
Up to the 87K cap each person is paying the same amount and receiving the same benefit.
By the way it isn't called Fica and SS. The new name is oasdi.

[leadpenny]

It would be a "washout" if the person paying at 1/100th the rate received 1/100th the benefit. That might be fair. If a person always made the cap gets $1,000 in benefits then the $8,000,000 man would get $10 dollars. That would be a wash.