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HOW SECURE IS SOCIAL SECURITY?
If you’re retired or close to retiring, then you’ve probably got nothing to worry about–your Social Security benefits will likely be paid to you in the amount you’ve planned on (at least that’s what most of the politicians say). But…
PROMISES, PROMISES: Obama $4 trillion deficit-cutting plan rests on iffy assumptions
The issue: Even after a hard-fought deficit-cutting deal in 2011 and a tax-increase measure in January, Washington still has a considerable way to go to wrestle intractable budget deficits under control. The Congressional Budget Office estimates cumulative deficits of roughly $7…
Elite conventional wisdom is losing on Social Security
In the past two weeks, two radically different proposals for the future of Social Security have provoked widespread discussion in the media. One proposal was made by President Barack Obama, as part of his proposed budget. This called for using…
Republican Plan To Turn The Tables On Chained CPI Falls Flat
The chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee tried hard Wednesday to flip Republicans from supporters of chained CPI — the mechanism used in President Obama’s budget to cut Social Security benefits — into opponents. By Thursday morning, however, it…
How would ‘Chained CPI’ affect your benefits?
A House Ways and Means subcommittee on Wednesday held a hearing to examine the impacts of using “Chained CPI” to slow the growth in entitlement spending and increase tax revenue. President Obama has put Chained CPI on the table as part of his proposal…
Republicans embrace Obama’s offer to trim Social Security benefits
President Obama’s offer to trim Social Security benefits has perplexed and angered Democrats, but GOP leaders are embracing the proposal and rushing to jump-start a debate that will delve even more deeply into the touchy topic of federal spending on the elderly.…
Liberal groups protest Obama’s Social Security plan
Angry over anticipated changes to Social Security in President Obama’s budget, liberal lawmakers, unions and groups representing retired Americans protested outside the White House on Tuesday, one day ahead of the the budget’s scheduled release. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who…
Refiguring Inflation Will Hit Retirees’ Income
Earlier this month, President Barack Obama proposed to tweak the formula for calculating the cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for Social Security recipients. He wants to tie the adjustment to what’s called the Chained Consumer Price Index, which many believe is…
With Tax Effects, Chained CPI Draws Coalition of Opposition
When the Obama administration included in its fiscal 2014 budget proposal a plan that would effectively reduce Social Security benefits over the years, officials braced for a strong backlash from Democrats and other defenders of the entitlement program. The White House…
Budget Negotiating Chip Has Big Downside for Old and Poor
President Obama has put Social Security on the table in an attempt to reach a bipartisan agreement on the federal budget deficit, a move that would hit the program’s beneficiaries when they are at their most vulnerable. The president has proposed slowing the rate at…