LETTERS: PAY SOCIAL SECURITY TAX ON ALL INCOME

To the editor:

An Associated Press report explained how the Treasury Department is placing honest-to-goodness paper Treasury bonds into a file for the money it is borrowing from the Social Security Trust Fund. This is instead of handling this simply enough through a computerized system of book entries. Now one can point to a locked file cabinet with some $650 billion in special, nonnegotiable Treasury bonds at a location where the trust fund actually exists.

There is a renewed stir of discussion about fixing Social Security and Medicare, with President Clinton highlighting the discussions at various locations. Here is one way that income to the trust fund could be increased:

The combined deduction of 7.65 percent (6.2 percent for Social Security and 1.45 percent for Medicare) is a flat tax. It comes right off the top of earned income. The equivalent is added by the employer. However, the Social Security deduction stops at $68,400 of earned income. While taxpayers with earned income under $68,400 pay this tax on all their income, the high rollers escape the tax above this amount. If all earned income would be taxed equally, it would increase the income to the trust fund.

On the other side, the increased amount going into the trust fund would enable the bipartisan spinmeisters to have more money at their disposal to enhance the fantasy of balanced budgets and surpluses.

If there is difficulty believing or understanding this, ask your U.S. representative or senator.

GILBERT DEGENHARDT

Cape Girardeau