Bipartisan Fiscal Commission Suggestion Surfaces (Again) - CRFB; AMAC
It’s been an on-again, off-again subject in the news over the years (for example, see our 2024 post on this topic), but now, with another two years closer to catastrophe, we see it once more. This time, the Committee for a Responsible Budget (CRFB) is front and center with an assessment of ways that a “new fiscal commission can help policymakers work on a bipartisan basis to identify the necessary tax and spending changes to help improve the nation’s fiscal outlook.” (Read the CRFB full post here.)
The CRFB post focuses on three major trust funds—highways, Medicare hospital insurance, and Social Security retirement—facing relatively near-term crises, and provides examples of successful commission efforts over the years. The post also provides “ingredients for success” that could help unite stakeholders in negotiating toward solutions to the formidable problems facing these trust funds. In fact, one of the “ingredients” CRFB cites is stakeholder input, which helps bring “diverse viewpoints from those who understand the policies under consideration” into the search for palatable solutions.
Like many consulting organizations, the Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) has been heavily engaged in developing a solution to preserve and modernize Social Security for generations. This effort by AMAC and its subsidiaries, AMAC Action and AMAC Foundation, has resulted in AMAC’s Social Security Guarantee (SSG), a set of adjustments across a range of target areas intended to preserve the program for current beneficiaries and align it with 21st-century demographics and economics. AMAC’s position is that resolution to Social Security’s long-term problems can be achieved without payroll tax increases through relatively minor program modifications, including changes to the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) process and modifications to the formulas for calculating initial benefits for higher-income beneficiaries. Changes to the age for maximizing benefits are included in AMAC’s position, along with (1) an increase in the thresholds where benefits are subject to income tax; (2) indexing of these thresholds annually to account for inflation; (3) changing the taxable maximum formula to address the unintended loss of revenue; (4) improving survivor benefits, (5) eliminating the reduction in benefits for those choosing to work before full retirement age; and (6) improving savings tools for future retirees, including a savings account that builds estate value. AMAC is resolute in its mission to preserve Social Security for current and future generations and has drawn the attention of lawmakers in D.C., meeting with many congressional offices and staff over the past decade.