RE: Taxing salary over $72,600 for Social Security

[Andre Dermant <adseale@aol.com>]

Michael Brennan writes:
"To strengthen Social Security, why not tax salary over $72,600, which is currently not taxed for Social Security? This would substantially strengthen Social Security even with increases in Social Security benefits based on the increased contributions. Social Security's Office of the Actuaries estimated in 1998 that requiring higher salaries to pay Social Security tax would take would take away 69% of the deficit they project."
Please give the reference from which this statistic is taken. 
Also, a few questions:
   1) does that mean that the benefits for these people would be related to their FICA taxes or would they stop at the level of $72,600?
   2) is it assumed that 85% of their benefits would be added to their income in order to compute their federal taxes, thereby taking away a good deal of their benefits;
   3) what does that do to their "moneysworth" or return on investment?
   4) finally, we do not live in a static world; people will find ways (particularly self-employed) to avoid paying these large FICA taxes.