So I've been paying for social security my whole life and you think it's a waste and you have the right to take the program away from me? Will I be getting a refund?
FWIW, the US Supreme Court ruled[0] in a famous 1960 case that Social Security is an ordinary income tax and you are not entitled to receive any benefit of that payment, same as income tax. Whether we like it or not, that has been the law of the land for 65 years. Most Americans are simply ignorant of this reality.
> Like 1/4 of everything I make goes to social security.
If you want to be taken seriously, don't make false claims. It weakens your other arguments. Social Security is 6.2% (12.4% if self-employed since the employer takes care of half) on the first $176,100 of your net income (which for the median US taxpayer is on all their income). Medicare is 1.45% (2.9% if self-employed, same as Social Security).
So if you are self-employed, you pay at most 15.3% of your income below $176,100 in combined Social Security and Medicare. That's a lot, but it's not 25%. If you are not self-employed, you're paying 7.65% on income below $176,100 to both Social Security and Medicare which is very far from 25%.
If you're earning over $176,100 your effective Social Security tax rate will drop.
I agree, that was a striking claim to make. Perhaps the person you responded to puts a lot into their 401k thinking it is social security or thinks income tax is FICA?
I’ll be lucky if my generation will even be able to pull anything out of social security.