THE PROPOSAL: Exempt all Social Security payments from income taxes.
RATIONALE: Why put money in one pocket and take it out of the other? Poor seniors need the income.
REBUTTAL: Poor seniors don’t have to pay taxes on Social Security under current law. The proposal only helps affluent seniors. The Social Security trust fund runs out of assets in a few years; this proposal would make the situation even worse.
ANALYSIS: This is a really stupid idea for the reasons listed above. I say that even though I would benefit from this proposal in the short run.
PROGNOSIS: This idea is going nowhere in Congress. It doesn’t have a constituency in the donor class.