Reply #14: How about April 19, 2011 [View All]

[frazzled]

Tue Apr 19, 2011 3:42pm EDT

* Obama says tweaks can sustain program (Adds context, comments)

By Kim Dixon

WASHINGTON, April 19 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday backed boosting the amount of individual income subject to Social Security taxes, one of the first concrete proposals he has endorsed to put the retirement program on a stronger fiscal footing.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/19/usa-obama-socialsecurity-idUSN19806820110419

Don't like that source: how about firedoglake, with a transcript of a town hall meeting in Virginia this year?

So we do have to stabilize Social Security’s finances, but we can do that with some relatively modest changes — unlike health care, where we’ve got to get in and work with providers and really get some much more substantial reforms. With Social Security, it’s just a matter of tweaking how it currently works.

Now, politically, it’s hard to do. Politically, it’s hard to do. For example — I’ll just give you one example of a change that would make a difference in Social Security. Right now you only pay a Social Security tax up to a certain point of your income. So a little bit over $100,000, your Social Security — you don’t pay Social Security tax.

Now, how many people are making less than $100,000 a year? Don’t be bashful. (Laughter.) The point is, for the vast majority of Americans, every dime you earn, you’re paying some in Social Security. But for Warren Buffett, he stops paying at a little bit over $100,000 and then the next $50 billion he’s not paying a dime in Social Security taxes.

So if we just made a little bit of an adjustment in terms of the cap on Social Security, that would do a significant amount to stabilize the system. And that’s just an example of the kinds of changes that we can make. (Applause.)

http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/04/19/obama-reaffirms-desire-to-lift-social-security-payroll-cap/

I could go on and find a dozen transcripts of a dozen places he's said this in the last two years. If you want more, I'll do it. But you should be getting the point by now.