George Will's column in the current (May 5) issue of
> Newsweek contains a rather strange assertion.
>
> In a series of hypothetical questions to Barack Obama, Will
> claims the following:
>
> A couple who were both W-2 employees and have a household
> income of $147,501 would pay an additional $5,642 in Social
> Security taxes if the $102,000 cap on earnings was
> eliminated.
>
> This is wrong on so many levels, it is hard to know where to
> start.
>
> First, he must be assuming that the $102K cap is applied
> jointly to taxpayers who file a joint return. As far as I
> know, this is not correct. Lacking any further information
> about this factious couple, it is reasonable to assume that
> with a joint income of $147,501, neither person is making
> more than the $102K cap.
>
> Second, Will assumes that the "household income" comes all
> from wages.
>
> Third, even if there was only one wage earner, he has
> conveniently over-calculated the additional tax by a factor
> of 2. He has used the total rate of 12.4% instead of the
> employee rate of 6.2%..
>
I haven't seen the article, Victor, but from what you say it does appear that George has no clue.
Katie in San Diego