No Need to Raise Social Security Taxes -- Make the Rich Pay Their Full Share!

Jim Hightower on Sep 17, 2025

My life goals have never included making a lot of money ... and I've certainly succeeded in that regard.

Yet, I do consider myself rich. Not like the Wall Street "richie-rich," but in the modest sense of middle-class well-being -- basically, enough to make ends meet. It's not my good looks that put me in this lucky zone, but one particular public asset that has long been serving the common good for decades, lifting millions of workaday Americans to some decent level of shared prosperity: Social Security.

Plutocratic elites and their political puppets constantly wail that it's a socialist scam, a wasteful giveaway to old people. But regular folks know that's hokum, since nearly all of us pay into the plan every month of our working lives. In short, it's our money!

Moreover, each of our Social Security accounts steadily builds up. So, consider this: The most valuable financial asset for 9 out of 10 American families is not their houses or Aunt Tillie's will -- but their Social Security holdings. Even for rock-solid, middle-class families, Social Security provides for about a third of their total lifetime wealth.

When right-wingers screech that "fiscal prudence" demands they slash the program's benefits, that's bank-robber code for looting wealth you've banked for years in this People's retirement system. Plus, there is absolutely no excuse for such thievery, since an honest, fair, and simple adjustment would keep the program fully funded in perpetuity: Rather than letting gabillionaires like Elon Musk put practically none of their massive incomes into this egalitarian effort to provide a decent retirement for all, make them pay Social Security taxes exactly like regular workers do.

CEOS OF TAX-EXEMPT HOSPITALS LEARN TO GAME THE SYSTEM

All across the country, nonprofit hospital chains are literally upping their game.

These corporate entities receive special tax exemptions because they provide some free and reduced-cost medical services to poor families. But, as one CEO put it, many chains are now going the extra yard to serve local folks "in new and exciting ways."

Great! Our whole health system desperately needs better quality, more affordable care for all!

Uh ... no ... that's not what they mean.

Rather, the exciting new thing being pushed by non-profit hospitals is to spend big chunks of their tax-free revenue on their area's professional and college sports teams. For what? Get this: To buy the naming rights to the teams' stadiums and ballparks! A children's hospital in Fresno, Calif., for example, has put down $10 million to slap its name on Fresno State University's football stadium. And a Tennessee "safety-net" hospital has committed millions to emblazon its corporate name on the ballpark of Chattanooga's pro-baseball franchise.

Sweet Jesus, what the hell? One university marketing professor even tried to rationalize these diabolical, high-dollar transactions by comparing them to community-spirited doctors buying jerseys for a town's Little League team! Excuse me, but this is a big-league perversion of the healthcare mission. Indeed, the Fresno State deal included special perks for the hospital's top honchos -- including a skybox suite at FSU games, food and drink for them, seats on the team's charter plane and a bundle of free tickets to home games.

This is Jim Hightower saying ... As the Republican mayor of Chattanooga gently noted: "At a time of severe nursing shortages and quality of care concerns, this decision is hard to explain."

To find out more about Jim Hightower and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators webpage at www.creators.com.

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