Whose Ox is Gored under Obama's Plan to Abolish the Social Security Wage Ceiling?

The question is answered by The Tax Foundation with an interesting state-by-state breakdown. Oddly enough, states that have been governed by the Democrats in recent years would be hardest hit, while the red Republican states tend to be at the bottom of the list.

California would be hit hardest, because there are more employees there than in any other state, and far more with earnings above the current wage ceiling. However, in percentage terms, California comes in at sixth, with New Jersey taking top honors. Connecticut is third.

6.25% of workers would be affected by elimination of the wage ceiling, as would their employers. That's a pretty big tax hike, and some would argue it's a middle class tax hike to boot. To reduce the impact, some advocate a "donut hole" approach, in which there is a bracket that is free of FICA, but then it kicks in again at $200K or $250K. Such an approach has the advantage that the number of adversely affected taxpayers drops by about 75%. It has the disadvantage that so little money is raised that it is hardly worth the effort.