>For one thing, lifting the $87k wage cap on social security tax and
>treating stock options as taxable wages would go a really long way in
>"saving" social security. Just think: a corporate CEO raking in $7m per
>annum in stock options would result in the following:
>- $525 k SS tax from the CEO
>- $525 k SS tax from the company that endowed the louse with such lavish
>perks
>- $1+m SS tax total
>
>That is more in a year than an average wage slave contributes to SS in
>his life time. Assume average wage $35k/annum resulting in total SS tax
>$5,250 times 40 years of toiling = mere $210k in his productive life
>time.
>
>Remember that next time your so-called "elected representative" tells
>you that SS is "broken" and needs "fixing."
I never checked this out myself, but someone (reliable) told me that during the initial Congressional debate over SS it was made very explicit that the system should be funded by taxes on labor, not capital - thus the salary cap and the exemptions of nonwage income.
Doug