College athletes are employees? Let them pay taxes

Now that I'm on the government dole in my retirement, I try to keep track of who's going to pay for my Social Security benefits, my Medicare expenses and any other payments Uncle Sam wants to send my way.

Yes, I paid for most of it during nearly half a century of paycheck withholding, but I figure at some point what I paid in is going to be exceeded by what I'm taking out each month. It's simple math.

And so is the recent decision by a lone National Labor Relations Board mediator that players at Northwestern University -- most receive scholarships -- are employees of the school and, therefore, entitled to form a union, if they want.

This ruling has caused quite a ruckus. Me? I find the ruling interesting because of all the ramifications, some of which haven't been mentioned in the outpouring of sports columns on the subject.

Disclaimer: I am a fair-weather sports fan at best. What I know about the complexities of most college sports would fall into the category of "pitiful." I'm no better at pro sports. All I know is when the Cardinals are in the World Series, I watch every second of every game. The pace of professional baseball just about matches my brain's ability to absorb the strategy on the field. When the Cards win, I'm happy. When they lose, I wish they had won. That's about it for my fan fervor.

The can of worms at Northwestern has accomplished one thing: It has made those of us who take, at best, a modest interest in college sports think a bit deeper about those scholar-athletes who dream of being drafted by a pro team after one year of college.

So let's get down to my main point, which is this: If college athletes are school employees, shouldn't they be faced with withholding? They should have state taxes withheld. They should have federal taxes withheld. And they should have FICA taxes (my main interest) withheld, since all I ever hear is that the Social Security Trust Fund is just about kaput.

But if every student athlete at every college and university had FICA taxes withheld from every paycheck, it seems to me the Social Security Administration's financial logjam would be over.

Hallelujah! Right?

Like I said, I know so little about college sports. Maybe schools already withhold state, federal and Social Security taxes on behalf of student athletes. In which case, just about everything I've said so far in this column makes no sense whatsoever.

But, on the off-chance that I'm right, I'd like to see a sports story or column that addresses the issues of student employment. If any Northwestern student has a part-time job, she or he is getting a paycheck reduced by appropriate withholding amounts. If any student is employed by Northwestern -- say in the bookstore or one of the student cafeterias, the university is withholding from all those paychecks too.

So it only make sense that student athletes should cough up their fair share.

And there's another angle worth considering: What about all those other students who are classified as "employees" in some way, even if it's not as a student athlete. Shouldn't they be allowed to form unions too?

Maybe you think I've overcomplicated this issue. And maybe I have. But I feel much better now that I know earnest young scholar-athletes will be propping up my Social Security checks.

So the next time you see a story from Washington about how Social Security is going bust, and how we need to increase the FICA tax or delay full benefits for retirees or make the rich pay more into the trust fund, just remember these five words:

Thank God for student athletes.

Joe Sullivan is the retired editor of the Southeast Missourian.