Thursday, January 23, 2014

Another Archival Summary of the BEST Social Security Mod Plan

Another Archival Summary of the BEST Social Security Mod Plan

For more details on the plan, please read my earlier posts!

Historical Background

Since Social Security’s inception in 1935, many changes have been made to the program. Some examples are adding disability benefits, the Supplemental Security Income program, Medicare, and mandating coverage for the self-employed and employees of non-profit organizations.

What It Does

·          Improves long range solvency of the Social Security Trust Funds.

·          Adds progressivity to Social Security taxation.

·          Welcomes new groups of workers into the Social Security program.

·          Serves to stabilize the economy.

·          Slows the inflation of real estate values.

·          Inspires new confidence in the Social Security program.

What It Does Not Do

·          It does not remove the Social Security wage/coverage cap.

·          It does not increase the retirement age.

·          It does not reduce the amount of retirement benefits.

How Does It Do It?

·          Lowers the payroll tax rate for workers/self-employed who earn at or below minimum wage levels from 7.65%-15.3% respectively to 4.65%-9.3%.

·          Increases the payroll tax for that portion of earnings which exceed the curent maximum covered base from 7.65%-15.3% to 9.65%-17.3%, using current methodology for cap increases, over a 10 year rolling period.

·          Adds three new categories of work which will be subject to Social Security coverage: Short term capital gains, all rentals from real estate, and working for state & local employers currently not covered by Social Security for the first five years of employment.

Who Does It Affect?

·          Having an equitable, progressive, solvent Social Security program affects everyone.

·          Those who work in real estate rentals and in the businesses of short term investing, and currently non-covered state and local employers and employees.

·          Higher wage earners who earn in excess of the current Social Security maximum.

·          Minimum wage earners, young workers starting to work, and retired part-time workers.

·          Start-up businesses whose profits are at minimum wage levels.


Friday, January 10, 2014

The Minimum Wage & The BEST Social Security Modernization Plan

The Minimum Wage & The BEST Social Security Modernization Plan

Should the minimum wage be raised? H*ll. Y*s! Saying that minimum wages should be kept inhumanly low because minimum wage jobs should be stepping jobs to higher ($.25 an hour more?) paying jobs is ridiculous.

Any job that exists is worth doing well, and it should be capable of instilling pride in doing it right and in the job for its workers.

Here is an example: On my monthly wild spending spree, I go to Taco Bell ™ and order the usual Fresco bean burrito and a Fresco chicken soft taco. What’s different today? It tastes really good. Why? For one, the food prep specialist (fps) gave me exactly what I ordered, and it tasted really good, today. Why? The fps made my order exactly at Taco Bell ™ intended, (I did not get someone else’s order, either!) no sour cream, no heavy cheese, and included the diced tomatoes and cilantro, etc.

On my way home, the grocery sack boy (I, proudly, was one, once!) didn’t put my loaf of bread under my six pack of Pabst ™ or next to my bars of soap. Good job!

All workers should be held accountable, but they should also be properly trained, and they should be motivated sufficiently to want to do a good job. Paying just and fair wages can help motivated workers.

Companies can benefit, too, by paying higher wages. Less job turnover and time spent training and supervising saves money. Competent employees help businesses grow and thrive.

Every worker should be able to work any job with dignity, provide for food clothing and shelter, and keep that job if that is what they want to do.

The last time the minimum wage permitted someone to do that was during the 60’s around the time of the Johnson administration.

Workers should not have to hold two or three jobs just to get by.

How would paying a living minimum wage (higher minimum wage) affect the BEST Social Security Modernization Plan?

An increase of the minimum wage from its current $7.25 per hour to $11.00 per hour would generate a 52% increase of payments into the Social Security trust fund from minimum wage workers and employers. Admittedly, minimum wage jobs represent a small percentage of the working force and wages and self-employment earnings, but there is no one thing, alone, which will make Social Security fully solvent and capable of expansion.

Every little bit helps! So, go for it!

Here is a Bureau of Labor Statistics table that shows the percentage of minimum wage workers by state:

Table 1. Employed wage and salary workers paid hourly rates with earnings at or below the prevailing Federal minimum wage by State, 2012 annual averages
State
Number of workers (in thousands)
Percent distribution
Percent of workers paid hourly rates

Total
paid
hourly
rates
At or below minimum wage
Total
paid
hourly
rates
At or below minimum wage
At or below minimum wage

Total(1)
At
minimum
wage
Below
minimum
wage
Total(1)
At
minimum
wage
Below
minimum
wage
Total
(1)
At
minimum
wage
Below
minimum
wage

Total, 16 years & up
75,276
3,550
1,566
1,984
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
4.7
2.1
2.6

Alabama
1,083
65
31
34
1.4
1.8
2.0
1.7
6.0
2.9
3.1

Alaska
194
2
1
1
0.3
0.1
0.1
0.1
1.0
0.5
0.5

Arizona
1,472
68
17
51
2.0
1.9
1.1
2.6
4.6
1.2
3.5

Arkansas
725
50
33
17
1.0
1.4
2.1
0.9
6.9
4.6
2.3

California
8,805
127
45
82
11.7
3.6
2.9
4.1
1.4
0.5
0.9

Colorado
1,234
42
7
35
1.6
1.2
0.4
1.8
3.4
0.6
2.8

Connecticut
853
23
2
21
1.1
0.6
0.1
1.1
2.7
0.2
2.5

Delaware
219
11
4
7
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.4
5.0
1.8
3.2

District of Columbia
103
5
1
4
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.2
4.9
1.0
3.9

Florida
4,164
214
49
165
5.5
6.0
3.1
8.3
5.1
1.2
4.0

Georgia
2,114
136
60
76
2.8
3.8
3.8
3.8
6.4
2.8
3.6

Hawaii
331
14
7
7
0.4
0.4
0.4
0.4
4.2
2.1
2.1

Idaho
404
31
16
15
0.5
0.9
1.0
0.8
7.7
4.0
3.7

Illinois
3,065
85
21
64
4.1
2.4
1.3
3.2
2.8
0.7
2.1

Indiana
1,785
93
50
43
2.4
2.6
3.2
2.2
5.2
2.8
2.4

Iowa
920
46
25
21
1.2
1.3
1.6
1.1
5.0
2.7
2.3

Kansas
780
44
29
15
1.0
1.2
1.9
0.8
5.6
3.7
1.9

Kentucky
1,147
60
30
30
1.5
1.7
1.9
1.5
5.2
2.6
2.6

Louisiana
1,043
74
35
39
1.4
2.1
2.2
2.0
7.1
3.4
3.7

Maine
378
11
3
8
0.5
0.3
0.2
0.4
2.9
0.8
2.1

Maryland
1,327
67
25
42
1.8
1.9
1.6
2.1
5.0
1.9
3.2

Massachusetts
1,567
62
17
45
2.1
1.7
1.1
2.3
4.0
1.1
2.9

Michigan
2,449
90
19
71
3.3
2.5
1.2
3.6
3.7
0.8
2.9

Minnesota
1,522
60
35
25
2.0
1.7
2.2
1.3
3.9
2.3
1.6

Mississippi
700
45
21
24
0.9
1.3
1.3
1.2
6.4
3.0
3.4

Missouri
1,538
97
49
48
2.0
2.7
3.1
2.4
6.3
3.2
3.1

Montana
274
4
1
3
0.4
0.1
0.1
0.2
1.5
0.4
1.1

Nebraska
561
32
17
15
0.7
0.9
1.1
0.8
5.7
3.0
2.7

Nevada
730
23
9
14
1.0
0.6
0.6
0.7
3.2
1.2
1.9

New Hampshire
370
13
5
8
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.4
3.5
1.4
2.2

New Jersey
1,777
103
49
54
2.4
2.9
3.1
2.7
5.8
2.8
3.0

New Mexico
488
23
6
17
0.6
0.6
0.4
0.9
4.7
1.2
3.5

New York
4,075
224
113
111
5.4
6.3
7.2
5.6
5.5
2.8
2.7

North Carolina
2,206
137
74
63
2.9
3.9
4.7
3.2
6.2
3.4
2.9

North Dakota
205
7
3
4
0.3
0.2
0.2
0.2
3.4
1.5
2.0

Ohio
3,277
147
31
116
4.4
4.1
2.0
5.8
4.5
0.9
3.5

Oklahoma
890
64
29
35
1.2
1.8
1.9
1.8
7.2
3.3
3.9

Oregon
982
11
3
8
1.3
0.3
0.2
0.4
1.1
0.3
0.8

Pennsylvania
3,450
195
87
108
4.6
5.5
5.6
5.4
5.7
2.5
3.1

Rhode Island
298
10
2
8
0.4
0.3
0.1
0.4
3.4
0.7
2.7

South Carolina
1,084
59
28
31
1.4
1.7
1.8
1.6
5.4
2.6
2.9

South Dakota
253
12
6
6
0.3
0.3
0.4
0.3
4.7
2.4
2.4

Tennessee
1,554
86
46
40
2.1
2.4
2.9
2.0
5.5
3.0
2.6

Texas
6,060
452
282
170
8.1
12.7
18.0
8.6
7.5
4.7
2.8

Utah
758
37
21
16
1.0
1.0
1.3
0.8
4.9
2.8
2.1

Vermont
184
5
1
4
0.2
0.1
0.1
0.2
2.7
0.5
2.2

Virginia
1,803
123
48
75
2.4
3.5
3.1
3.8
6.8
2.7
4.2

Washington
1,705
29
11
18
2.3
0.8
0.7
0.9
1.7
0.6
1.1

West Virginia
453
26
13
13
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.7
5.7
2.9
2.9

Wisconsin
1,745
94
41
53
2.3
2.6
2.6
2.7
5.4
2.3
3.0

Wyoming
173
9
4
5
0.2
0.3
0.3
0.3
5.2
2.3
2.9

(1) Data may not add to totals due to rounding.

NOTE: Data exclude all self-employed persons whether or not their businesses are incorporated. Users are reminded that these data are based on a sample and therefore are subject to sampling error; the degree of error may be quite large for less populous States. It is not possible to determine clearly whether workers surveyed in the CPS are actually covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) or by individual State minimum wage laws. Thus, some workers reported as earning the prevailing Federal minimum wage may not in fact be covered by Federal or State minimum wage laws. Also, there are a number of States that have minimum wages that exceed the Federal minimum wage. At the same time, the presence of a sizable number of workers with wages below the prevailing Federal minimum wage does not necessarily indicate violations of the FLSA or applicable State laws, because there are numerous exclusions and exemptions to these minimum wage statutes. Hourly earnings do not include overtime pay, commissions, or tips.