The rate was simply returned to what it had been since 1990.

In short, we’ve been taking this same tax hit quietly for twenty years. Add that up.

Keep in mind that the employer is paying the same amount in, out of your cost of employment. The total rate, with Medicare thrown in, is 15.3 percent.

When I started working as a teenager, the rate was less than half what it is now.

When Social Security was sold to the people of America, the rate, employer plus employee, was 2 percent.

I did a spreadsheet once to work out what I’d have if I’d invested that money in stocks or gold. Depressing.