Originally published Saturday, June 14, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Obama calls for payroll tax on salaries above $250,000
Democratic Sen. Barack Obama on Friday called for higher payroll taxes on wage-earners making more than $250,000 annually, a step that would...
The Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Democratic Sen. Barack Obama on Friday called for higher payroll taxes on wage-earners making more than $250,000 annually, a step that would affect the wealthiest 3 percent of Americans.
The presidential candidate told senior citizens in Ohio that it is unfair for middle-class earners to pay the Social Security tax "on every dime they make," while millionaires and billionaires pay it on only "a very small percentage of their income."
The 6.2 percent payroll tax is applied to all wages up to $102,000 a year, which covers the entire amount for most Americans. Under Obama's plan, the tax would not apply to wages between that amount and $250,000. But all annual salaries above the quarter-million-dollar amount would be taxed under his plan, Obama said.
Obama also said Republican presidential candidate John McCain has indicated he was willing to consider higher payroll taxes.
But Douglas Holz-Eakin, McCain's senior economic-policy adviser, said that as president, McCain would not consider an increase "under any imaginable circumstance."
Obama was vague about what forms of income would be affected. Campaign aides said the additional tax, like the current one, would apply only to wages and salaries and not to other forms of income, such as investments.
Obama has talked before of establishing such a "doughnut hole" in the amount of income subject to the Social Security tax. Friday marked the first time he confirmed a resumption point: $250,000 and above.
Obama made the remarks at a retirement facility in Columbus, capital of a state he lost to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primary March 4. McCain is hoping to carry Ohio this fall, as President Bush did four years ago in his narrow win over Democrat John Kerry.
Obama said his plan "allows us to extend the life of Social Security" without raising the retirement age or cutting benefits.
The Illinois senator also criticized McCain for being open to letting taxpayers invest part of their Social Security payments in private investment accounts.
"Imagine if your security now was tied up with the Dow Jones," Obama said, alluding to the recent slide in stock prices. "You wouldn't feel very confident about the security of your nest egg."
McCain, campaigning Friday in New Jersey, said Obama was misrepresenting his position.
![]()
"I will not privatize Social Security," he said. "But I would like for younger workers, younger workers only, to have an opportunity to take a few of their tax dollars, a few of theirs, and maybe put it into an account with their name on it. That's their money."
The Arizona senator said later: "Private savings accounts have to be voluntary, they have to be only for young people, and they can't be the centerpiece of the argument."
Current retirees would not lose any benefits, McCain said.
The total Social Security tax rate of 12.4 percent is evenly divided between workers and employers.
Obama, speaking on other retirement issues, said he would "limit circumstances when retirement benefits can be cut," and increase the wages and benefits workers could protect in bankruptcy court. Companies would have to disclose more about their pension-fund investments, he said.
He vowed to end "the outrage of executives getting bonuses while workers watch pensions disappear."
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
Big demand, grim outlook for state Basic Health Plan
SC legislators begin Sanford impeachment hearings
Some fans at Fort Bragg see themselves in Sarah Palin
S.C. governor faces 37 charges of violating ethics laws
UPDATE - 10:09 AM
Obama: US-Indian ties help define 21st century

PNW Magazine | Easy As Pie
A little friendly competition between professional pie-baker Kate McDermott and The Seatttle Times' Kathleen Triesch Saul is handled with great taste.
nwautos
Local riders say they've seen a surge in scooter interest in recent years, mostly from people wanting another commuting option. Seattle now ranks as o...
Post a comment
nwjobs
Post a comment
Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
Do you suffer from "sitting disease"?
Post a comment
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- Jerry Brewer | Jerry Brewer: Seahawks can't lean on the Hutch Crutch now
- Woman stabbed by stranger in North Seattle
- Tattoos at Mill Creek church pierce skin, soul
- UW, WSU once again meet to see who's worse
- Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
- Husky Football Blog | Ranking the Pac
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
- Tugboat sinks at Seattle waterfront pier
- Illegal workers quietly let go
422 - Climate change speeds up since 1997 Kyoto accord
224 - Bellevue residents blast new bikini espresso stand
176 - Metro won't cut bus service after all
160 - New Husky recruit: Enes Kanter
109 - Washington State coach Paul Wulff says he's excited about Cougars' future
101 - Next Seahawks GM should be Mike Holmgren
100 - Big demand, grim outlook for state Basic Health Plan
96 - Seattle woman charged with knife attack on boyfriend's ex
93 - Middleton says Huskies "plan on scoring at least 50 points'' Saturday
87
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- Tattoos at Mill Creek church pierce skin, soul
- Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Architects, chefs find 'kid' within to build Gingerbread Village
- Rediscovering Moab, 'the most beautiful place on Earth'
- UW, WSU once again meet to see who's worse
- Hutch gets $10M from Bezos family for immunotherapy research
- Nicole Brodeur | Homeless woman bent on giving
- Elton John & Billy Joel reschedule Seattle concerts








