As we've learned in previous chapters, the government often institutes tax provisions to promote certain social or economic goals. All tax provisions come at a cost to the government. In this discussion, you'll explore the current structure of the FICA imposed taxes.

Please respond to all of the following prompts:

On pages 9-9 through 9-11of your textbook, they discuss the two elements of the FICA tax: OASDI (old age, survivors, and disability insurance) and Medicare (hospital insurance). Page 9-10 shows the employee and employer percentage contributions for tax years 2008 through 2013 along with the maximum base.

Discuss the appropriateness of these provisions. Are percentages fair, too high, or too low? Should we have a maximum base for Social Security and/or Medicare? Why or why not?

What recommendations for improvement would you offer the government related to Social Security and Medicare? How can we improve the system without unfairly burdening taxpayers and/or worsening the government deficit?