As most of us are aware, the American payroll tax funds Social Security and Medicare. Payroll taxes are collected on earned income, and the money is used to support Social Security and Medicare.

The payroll tax rate for Social Security is 12.4% total on income up to an annual limit — $137,700 in 2020 — with employers and employees each paying half and the self-employed covering the entire amount. Payroll taxes are also collected to fund Medicare, bringing the total tax rate to 15.3%, split between employees and employers.

The government’s deferral for payroll taxes is a direct attack on the livelihood of the 50 million-plus 65 and older citizens, the 13 million-plus disabled and the 6.3 million widows and orphans who depend on it.

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Worse, this action does nothing for the 13.6 million unemployed (Bureau of Labor Statistics: August 2020) who need help the most. Once again, promises have been broken to protect Social Security and Medicare. The deferral essentially is a loan that has to be repaid in January, which many will not be able to do.

What happens then? How does the lost revenue and the deficit in the Social Security Trust Fund and Medicare funds get made up? No one is saying.   

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This is a cruel hoax. Once again, we are given false claims in place of real solutions.

Nancy Spillane
Oak Creek