Headlines
More U.S. Nonretirees Expect to Rely on Social Security
Although the Social Security program continues to face long-term funding challenges, U.S. nonretirees are more likely to say Social Security will be a major source of income in their retirement than they have been at any point in the last…
Costs of Merging Social Security Retirement and Disability Funds
The urgent financing crisis facing Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) is giving rise to suggestions that the DI Trust Fund be merged with Social Security’s larger Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund. These two components of Social Security have…
The Social Security Benefits of Sitting Senators in 2015
For 80 years, Social Security has served as an essential source of economic security for millions of Americans in their retirement. This has not prevented opponents of the program from asserting that Social Security is insolvent or near bankruptcy. A number of…
Taxes: What federal agency spends the most and where does the rest of your money go?
Americans will spend about $3 trillion dollars this year on health care. It’s difficult for anyone to truly wrap their head around that kind of number, so, let’s think of it in terms of dollars and cents. For every dollar bill…
Kicking the can on Social Security
Last week, Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) dedicated time to champion entitlement reform at a 4-stop tour through New Hampshire. The governor said “Washington is afraid to have an honest conversation about Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid with the people of…
Gov. Scott Walker won’t talk Social Security until he’s a presidential candidate
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said Wednesday that he won’t discuss how to pay for federal programs for retirees unless and until he becomes a formally declared presidential candidate. Social Security and Medicare represent a big part of federal spending and…
Bipartisan law includes provisions to curb waste and fraud in Medicare and Medicaid
U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., is hopeful that waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid will soon be under serious attack thanks to Congress’ passage of key parts of a bill he sponsored with Senator Tom Carper, D-Del. Managers…
A 2016 candidate’s guide to the disability vote
Considering the millions of dollars candidates pay for political campaign advice, it’s remarkable how inept they often are on disability issues. With some notable exceptions, like former Sens. Bob Dole and Tom Harkin, most politicians’ statements on disability are vague,…
A Social Security ‘Mystery’ – Solved!
Now that Social Security has resumed sending estimated benefit statements(1), one of the most frequent questions I hear is, “How do they calculate how much I’m going to get?” Frankly, Social Security is pretty transparent. The website explains this in…
GOPers talk entitlement reform at NH summit
Leading Republican presidential contenders aren’t shying away from proposals to overhaul Social Security and Medicare—once considered untouchable third rails of American politics. Chris Christie, Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush all told audiences at the Republican Leadership Summit in New Hampshire…