Republicans Pushing the Biggest Tax Hike in Decades and Their Own Voters Are Cheering for It

The Party of Low Taxes Just Proposed a Massive Tax Hike

I want you to read this carefully. Roger Marshall, Republican, Kansas, running for Senate, stepped in front of cameras during a debate and called for eliminating the cap on income subject to the Social Security payroll tax. The cap is currently $184,500.

This is not a Democrat saying this. This is a Republican. And what he is proposing would be the largest peacetime tax increase in decades. It makes the Obama years look like a tax holiday.

I do not recognize this party anymore. And what makes it worse is that a chunk of the conservative base is nodding along because the words “Social Security” and “make the rich pay” are involved, and nobody stopped to think for five seconds about what this actually means.

You Are Being Played, and Here Is How

Let me break down the payroll tax so there is no confusion:

• 15.3% on all wages up to $184,500. That is the current rate. It is split between employee and employer, 6.2% each.
• 2.9% above that cap. Yes, the rate actually drops on higher income. That is by design because the benefit formula is tied to contributions.
• 3.8% above $200,000 after the Affordable Care Act surcharge.

Now here is the part that drives me absolutely crazy. Everyone talks about the employer paying half. I am an employer. I pay that 6.2% for every person on my payroll. That money is a cost of employing someone. It is not charity from your boss. It is not coming out of some executive bonus pool. It is money that would otherwise be in your compensation package.

When politicians propose lifting the cap, they are not just taxing the wealthy. They are taxing every small business owner, every self-employed person, and ultimately suppressing wages for the workers they claim to be protecting.

The Crowd Cheering for Their Own Fleecing

What kills me is the audience on the right that is going along with this. These are the same people who:

• Screamed for COVID stimulus checks
• Are hoping for a $5,000 government payment if Republicans win the House and Senate
• Wave flags on the Fourth of July without any understanding of what individual economic freedom actually means

Personal responsibility used to mean something. Now every corner of the political spectrum, left and right, is in a race to see who can promise the most government money to the most people. And when a Republican has to out-socialist a Democrat to win a Senate seat in Kansas, we have a real problem.

What Social Security Reform Should Actually Look Like

I am not pretending the problem does not exist. Social Security hits serious trouble around 2032. Anyone going to the Senate now will be there when that clock runs out. Something has to change. I get it.

But the options worth having a real conversation about include:

• Means testing for benefits so the program is focused on people who actually need it
• Retirement age adjustments that reflect modern life expectancy realities
• Investment component reforms that let workers build actual wealth instead of feeding a broken system
• Structural spending controls rather than simply raising taxes and hoping for the best

Instead we are getting the laziest answer in the book: lift the cap, call it fairness, declare victory, and kick the real problem down the road.

Protect Yourself Because Washington Will Not

Here is what I keep telling people. Do not build your retirement plan around Social Security promises from politicians who cannot even agree on what party they belong to anymore. The payroll tax structure is a political football, and every time it gets kicked, workers and small business owners are the ones who take the hit.

Build your own financial foundation. Understand what you actually pay in taxes. Do not let the words “make the rich pay” turn off your brain, because more often than not, you end up being the one writing the check.