Op-ed: Biden, Macron, and the Politics of Social Security - USA Today & AMAC
Ingrid Jacques of USA Today writes here that President Biden might learn a thing or two from French President Emmanuel Macron, namely that people are living much longer and retirement programs must adapt or face insolvency. Macron has been resolute that the national retirement age must go up. The author’s main point, now being echoed by a plethora of experts who understand entitlement programs, is that doing nothing in America is simply not an option. That approach means cuts to Social Security and Medicare in less than a decade. She adds that President Trump also deserves blame for doing nothing to stave off insolvency. Jacques also favors austerity across the board when it comes to federal spending and preferably now rather than waiting until an economic crisis hits. Full piece here.
The Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) believes Social Security must be preserved and modernized. This can be achieved without tax increases by changing cost of living adjustments, increasing the retirement age, and modest adjustments to the highest income beneficiaries. The AMAC plan also suggests eliminating taxation of benefits, or at least annually adjusting the amount taxed for inflation, and eliminating the reduction of benefits for those who work before full retirement age. AMAC is resolute in its mission that Social Security be preserved for current and successive generations and has gotten the attention of lawmakers in D.C., meeting with a great many congressional offices and their staffs over the past several years.