Social Security reform
Principles for Consideration in Social Security Reform
Wednesday’s post on this site covered a call to President Trump and Congress to reactivate the public trustee positions previously part of Social Security’s board of trustees roster. The five former public trustees not only jointly advocated for this step,…
Social Security Misunderstandings and the Openness to Change
Reason.com contributing editor J.D. Tuccille, in a post on their website, examines one of the popular ironies facing Social Security in the 21st Century. He finds a paradox in the fact that most Americans like Social Security, but do not…
Innovative Thinking for Social Security Reform
Last week, Senators Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Tim Kaine of Virginia went public with additional details on their bipartisan proposal to create a separate wealth-generating fund to address Social Security’s long-term funding problem. Their announcement led with this claim: …
President Trump’s Key Short-Term Target Areas for Social Security
Social Security is getting its fair share of attention as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) continues toward its goal of cutting federal spending, specifically focusing on identifying and eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse in government programs. While this attention…
Highlighting Legislative Inertia on Social Security Reform
The term “inertia” refers to the natural tendency for objects at rest to remain at rest. Thinking about Social Security reform as an “object,” then, implies that action on corrective measures to ward off the catastrophe projected to hit beneficiaries…
Thought Leaders Weigh In on Social Security Reform
The Peter G. Peterson Foundation (PGPF), a nonpartisan organization focusing on the nation’s fiscal issues, provides various forums for policy influencers to contribute to the legislative conversations shaping the future for America’s seniors. PGPF’s Solutions Initiative 2024 is one such…
Social Security Reform: Debunking the Fear Mongering Following the RSC Proposal
Rumors and speculation about the Social Security intentions behind the Republican Study Committee’s (RSC) Fiscal Year 2025 Budget proposal–titled “Fiscal Sanity to Save America”–have blossomed in the days following its release last week. Labeling the fast-moving rhetoric as “a lot…
Culture Wars and Social Security…A Changing Landscape
As we wind down this turbulent year, we see a spate of media commentary that smacks of warfare across the generational spectrum regarding Social Security. First, there was the December 11 piece by Andrew G. Biggs (“No, Social Security Isn’t…
Long-Term Debt and Social Security Reform: Yes, There is a Relationship.
The mind-boggling gap between federal revenue and federal spending–pegged at $1.7 trillion for 2023–and the resultant nearly doubling of the year-over-year federal budget deficit is the subject of an analysis by University of Maryland professor Melissa Kearney and former U.S.…
Means Testing for Social Security…Where do the Republican Candidates Stand?
By now, anyone who’s been paying attention to Social Security’s steadily deteriorating financial position is keenly aware of the long-term implications of Congress taking no corrective action. Many suggestions for program restructuring have been put forth by a number of…