Then raise the payroll tax that
funds Social Security. The current rate is 6.2 percent for both the employee
and employer, and earnings above $168,800 aren’t subject to the tax. Raising it
to 8.5 percent would get us to 50 percent replacement income for a medium
earner (and more for low earners). But that increase assumes nothing else
changes to make it less costly. If we eliminate the $168,500 cap, and restore a
serious estate tax (let’s say its level in the 1950s), then the tax increase
would be smaller.
Yes, it is still a tax increase.
People would have to pay more under this scenario—but for a much better
lifetime benefit. White Trump voters now approaching retirement might see that, under Democratic rule, they would have the same 50 percent of working income
that people in this country used to get in the 1980s—and that people in other
rich countries still do.
Yes, the CEOs will scream. They
always scream at paying their workers fairly. Some of the big Democratic donors
will scream too. Let them. Who are we for? We are out to defeat a candidate
who is a reckless, unserious demagogue. It’s time for a little demagoguery for
the good.
