Senator Bernie Moreno (R, OH) took to the pages of the New York Times yesterday to propose one of the largest tax increases in modern times.

It would raise marginal tax rates by 12.4% on workers with earnings above $180,000 a year.  The marginal tax rate for income above that amount would rise to around 52% (37% income tax + 2.9% Medicare tax + 12.4% Social Security tax).

So to “save Social Security,” Senator Moreno proposes to blow up the economy. Our savior!

Alarm bells should have been blaring when Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren agreed to co-author this scheme.

The senators actually boast that this scheme would take $3 trillion out of the pockets of American workers and businesses over the next decade.

They write: “Lifting the cap so that all income is treated the same would generate substantial revenue that would extend the solvency of Social Security for another generation.”

But that’s duplicitous. Because income above $180,000 wouldn’t “be treated the same.” The combined income and payroll tax rate on much of this income would be about 20 percentage points HIGHER than on income of less than $180,000.

Even more unfair is that those who earn above $180,000 already pay roughly $4 into the SS system for every $1 they get out (after adjusting for rate of return). Now they will pay more than $5 into for every $1 paid out. What a deal!