[Griff]

I'd say you're on target. The right wing talking heads avoid that idea because it doesn't fit their convenient narrative about what should offend "productive" people. There are a lot of hard-working people who don't make enough money to pay income tax and never will, but they continue to pay FICA. Part of the problem could be the way some Democrats talk about an imaginary Social Security lock box, which gives the nutters cover, pretending it is an insurance vehicle not a government program.