Latest News
Not the time to expand Social Security given its finances
In this article by Watchdog, Bethany Blankley criticizes The Social Security 2100 Act as proposed by Rep. John Larson (D-CT) as the wrong time to expand Social Security benefits to the wealthiest demographic group at the expense of raising taxes on the current workers who fund the program. As she notes, Social Security faces insolvency in just over a decade. In short, at that time the program will be unable to pay full promised benefits. The author believes comprehensive reform is in order, not making the program more generous. Even cutting waste, fraud, and abuse in the program (of which there is some of course) gets you virtually nowhere long-term. The Committee for a Responsible Budget indicates that even if the fraudulent payments were reduced, they would only affect 0.4 percent of the cost and extend the program’s solvency by just three months. Read more here.
The Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) has a different approach, making modest changes in cost of living adjustments and the retirement age, without the need for any tax increases on workers. AMAC advocates for a bipartisan compromise, “The Social Security Guarantee Act,” taking selected portions of bills introduced by former Rep. Johnson (R-TX) and Rep. Larson (D-CT) and merging them with the Association’s own well researched ideas. One of its several components is Social Security PLUS, a new yet voluntary early retirement plan that would allow all earners to have more income available at retirement. This component is intended to appeal especially to younger workers. AMAC is resolute in its mission that Social Security be preserved and modernized and has gotten the attention of lawmakers in DC, meeting with a great many congressional offices and their legislative staffs over the past several years. Read AMAC’s plan here.