To the Editor:

President Trump issued an executive order that between September 1 and the end of this year, employees within a certain salary range are not required to pay the 6.2 percent of their salaries normally paid toward Social Security. 

This is a measure Trump has taken to alleviate economic stress during the pandemic, and theoretically, this tax will have to be repaid in 2021. However, many see Trump’s executive order as the first step in a process of ending Social Security. 

Republicans have wanted to get rid of Social Security for a long time, and Trump says that if he is re-elected, he will eliminate the Social Security payroll tax entirely. At a White House press conference in August, he said, “After the election … we will be terminating that tax.”

If Trump and the Republicans succeed in terminating the payroll tax, that will be the end of Social Security and Medicare — perhaps as early as 2023. 

For some people with large retirement savings, this might only cause a dent in the budget. For millions of others, it would mean poverty. 

Emily Wright

Highlands