What do they mean by "Social Security taxes may have to be raised...?"

I am not sure what exactly the pundits and politicians mean when they say that Social Security taxes **MAY** have to be raised in the future to pay for benefits promised to retirees drawing benefits at that time.

I thought taxes were already raised. See this table and explanation at
Answer 481: What is the maximum amount of taxable earnings for each year? from the Social Security website.

For the sake of simplicity and my blood pressure, let us just assume the tax rate was constant. But that tax rate was applied to the following wage levels at some sample years:

Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Top Social Security Wages

1980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$25,900
1985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$39,600
1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$51,300
1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$61,200
2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $76,200
2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $90,000


To my tired eyeballs, that looks like the Social Security tax paid by a single individual changed by, again, approximately :

- UP 20% in just 5 years between 2000 and 2005!
- UP 50% in just 10 years between 1995 and 2005
- UP 80% between 1990 and 2005
- UP 300% between 1980 and 2005
etc.

Those are already whopping tax increases. Do we hear about these increases when this topic is treated to the "both sides debate" format on TV? Does anyone mention this?

Why not?!

So, I ask, what exactly do the politicians mean when they say "Taxes may have to be raised in the future..." ?

(Shudder!)