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Lenny Shine’s Aug. 22 op-ed (“Don’t fall for Republican distractions”) argues that the Social Security contribution cap unfairly favors higher earners because, once they earn more than $184,500, they “cease to pay a nickel into the program.” He calls eliminating that cap a matter of making them pay their “fair share.”

He leaves out an important fact: America’s working families who earn in excess of $184,500 will receive no additional Social Security retirement benefit based on those “excess” earnings. That is an important omission. Pay nothing in, get nothing out. How is that not “paying a fair share”?

Should American working families who earn more than $184,500 in a year be required to pay more into Social Security without receiving any additional benefit for those additional contributions?

If we are going to have an honest and helpful discussion about the challenges faced by Social Security, we should do so based on an honest and accurate statement of the facts.

Daniel Kagan
Lewiston