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Finally, some Congressional Bipartisanship! Will it work this time? - AP News
Unless you just don’t watch the news, you are already aware that Social Security is (as has been warned for decades) facing financial difficulties which could culminate in a catastrophic 22% cut in everyone’s SS benefit in about 2033. All of us who intently watch the dialogue surrounding this possibility know that Social Security reform is urgently needed, but we also know it will only happen when both sides of the Congressional aisle work together – in other words, the solution must be a bipartisan effort.
Recently, in a rare demonstration of Congressional bipartisanship, two Democratic, one Independent, and three Republican U.S. Senators joined forces to propose the “Protecting Retirement Opportunities and Maintaining Income Security for Everyone,” or PROMISE Act. This is essentially a call for Congress to finally work together in bipartisan fashion to avoid the looming cuts to Social Security and set the program up for sustained solvency for the next 50 years. All of this is detailed in this AP (Associated Press) News article by Fatima Hussein and Kevin Freking.
As an example of leading thinking on reforming Social Security, the Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC, Inc.) believes Social Security must be preserved and modernized to serve future generations. AMAC’s position is that this 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 that Social Security be preserved for current and successive generations and has gotten the attention of lawmakers in D.C., meeting with many congressional offices and staff over the past decade.