A simple solution on Social Security

Most experts agree that the Social Security crisis of running out of money can be solved by simply raising the cutoff top income for paying the Social Security tax by a few thousand dollars.

It is now somewhere in the low $90,000. Why not raise it to $100,000 ( for simplicity).

Then introduce a gap of no payment -- say of $100,000 (for simplicity). Then apply the Social Security deduction again at $200,000 to $300,000. Put in another gap from 400K to 500K, gap, 600K-700k, gap, etc.

Perhaps the non-payment gaps could be extended to $200,000 after a million to provide incentive to those who still think they need "just a few million" more to feel secure.

This could hardly be a hardship to millionaires. Many of us would be willing to show them how to economize -- one less BMW, one less acre of lakefront property, avoiding usurious interest rates by paying down their credit card debt, shopping for prescription drugs in Canada, clipping grocery coupons or tax free municipal bond coupons, etc.

Such a structure for Social Security would probably produce a hefty surplus.

A surplus is something most politicians cannot handle well. Suggestions here: Use the surplus from the over a million "non-gaps" to pay off the Bush legacy, our staggering national debt.

Use any surplus below that for the nation infra-structure which is nearing retirement age -- roads, bridges, schools, a useable and useful passenger rail system, etc., all of which would stimulate the economy.

Martin McGowan

Elk Grove Village