Headlines
Happy Washington’s Birthday from The Social Security Report
Today is a federal holiday celebrated every third Monday of February in honor of George Washington, the first President of the United States, born on February 22, 1732. The Uniform Federal Holidays Act of 1971 set its observance from February 15 to 21, inclusive. The day…
Bernie and the “Donut Hole”
Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, like some of the competitors in the 2020 race for the Democratic nomination, has a plan for addressing Social Security’s long-term financial woes. His approach would create the “taxable wage donut hole,” in which earnings between…
A Call for Attention to Social Security’s Problems
That Social Security is facing dire circumstances in the not-too-distant future is a well-known fact. That the options to fix the problem grow more severe with each passing month is also a well-known fact. And yet, the political realities and…
Raising the Social Security Tax Cap Called into Question
A post on economics21.org by Manhattan Institute senior fellow Allison Schrager takes aim at the popular theory that eliminating the Social Security tax cap on earnings (presently $137,700) will correct the program’s solvency issue. Her article develops the point that merely eliminating the cap without…
Debate Developing on Social Security Impacts in Controversial 2020 Budget
Social Security Works and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, both active advocacy groups keeping a watchful eye on federal spending plans, are expressing concerns for the fiscal health of this critical senior benefit program under President Trump’s 2020…
Writing Off Social Security?
Being fully aware of AMAC’s–the Association of Mature American Citizens’–efforts to address Social Security’s long-term solvency issue, and also being aware of several other initiatives active in Congress addressing this problem, a post today by The Motley Fool’s Maurie Backman titled…
Food prices, COLAs, and Social Security
“Every time I go to the supermarket, I pay more.” “Food prices keep skyrocketing.” “When I was a kid, bread was a dime.” What’s wrong with these three statements? The first two are plain wrong and the third misleading, as…
Fact checking the State of the Union
Looking to The New York Times for fact-checking of something written by Republicans should always make one skeptical. But the newspaper is out with a revised analysis showing most of the statements made by the president in his Tuesday February 4th…
Yes, Social Security IS an entitlement program
The word “entitlement” gets a bad rap when it comes to Social Security. People think it’s a denigration of the program which provides benefits to 64 million Americans. Entitlement conjures up getting something one doesn’t deserve. Alessandra Malito explains in…
Don’t Tax Savings and Allow Universal Savings Accounts
Saving for retirement could not be more important, especially with Social Security replacing just 40 percent of pre-retirement income. Stephen Moore and Adam Michel of The Daily Signal outline the concept of universal savings accounts, an idea currently under consideration by the Trump…