Don’t hinder Social Security
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To the editor:
At the town hall meeting with Senator Grassley’s representative, one concern that affected almost every person in the room was changes to the Social Security Administration (SSA).
DOGE is planning to shut down hundreds of local and regional offices that assist people with Social Security enrollment and resolving errors.
Our closest Social Security office is in Creston. If that were to close, seniors in our community would have to travel a to Des Moines to receive assistance.
These office closures will disproportionately affect small, rural communities and citizens who are poor, disabled, and do not have Internet access. There are also detailed plans for the SSA to make changes to its phone service that would seriously disrupt service to millions of Americans.
In December 2023, over 687,000 people in Iowa received monthly Social Security benefits, according to the Social Security Administration. As you know, Social Security is not an entitlement program. You and your employer have paid into Social Security for as long as you have worked.
At the town hall, it was discussed that something has to be done with Social Security or it will run out of money. We understand this and urge both parties to come up with a solution to this problem that does not involve making cuts to Social Security payments for elderly people who are barely above the poverty line.
One solution is raising the cap on the amount of your earnings that can be taxed for Social Security. This would not affect most citizens of Ringgold County or the average Iowan.
The current cap for Social Security is $176,000. What you may not realize is that a person who makes let’s say 100 million or even a billon dollars only pays Social Security taxes on $176,000 of his/her earnings and the rest is not taxed for Social Security.
Do you think it is fair that a person making $176,000 pays in the same Social Security tax as a person who makes $500 million?
By raising the cap on Social Security, millionaires and billionaires would pay in their fair share of Social Security taxes, which would keep Social Security solvent for many, many years.
Lynne Wallace, Mount Ayr
Nancy Roe, MountAyr
Crystal Storhoff, Mount Ayr
Sally Young, Mount Ayr
Amanda Hanisch, Diagonal