Social Security reform
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…
Social Security’s Future–A Clear and Concise Synopsis
Media accounts of Social Security’s long-term viability frequently set forth a dismal picture, often using terms like “bankrupt” that generate either alarm or despair depending on one’s age and proximity to benefit eligibility. Those who follow this subject closely, of…
Candidate Christie Breaks Ranks on the Social Security Issue, Advocates Cuts
While the prevalent mindset during the runup to the election year seems to be a consistent aversion to addressing the Social Security solvency problem head-on, presidential candidate Chris Christie stepped out of line recently with statements calling for reform provisions…
On the Issue of Social Security Means Testing…
One of the ideas being explored these days is the thought that Social Security benefits for the ultra-wealthy should be perhaps curtailed or even eliminated. It’s not necessarily a new thought, since it has come up more than once over…
Will Anticipated Voter Turnout Dictate the Future of Social Security Reform?
In analyzing the Social Security reform positions taken by President Biden and former President Donald Trump, Frank Gunter (professor of economics at Lehigh University) speculates that their priorities for resolution of the steadily progressing deterioration of the program’s finances would sacrifice…
Tax Fairness Cited as Rallying Cry in Efforts to Address Social Security
Senate Budget Committee deliberations this week focused on, among other key points, the revenue side of the Social Security funding dilemma, with Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) presenting a case for bilateral attention to be applied to achieving “tax fairness between…
Candidate Pence on Social Security Reform
Former Vice President and 2024 presidential candidate Mike Pence, speaking in a recent CNN Iowa town hall, essentially disagreed with the stance voiced by Donald Trump and Joe Biden on Social Security reform, noting that making no changes is not…
Four Principles Designed to Salvage Social Security for the Long-Term
The solvency dilemma Social Security faces has gotten some attention in the early days of the 118th Congress, but despite the urgency–full depletion of the program’s reserves is less than a decade away–proposals to ward off a catastrophe haven’t gotten…
Social Security’s $8.6 Billion Accounts Receivable Problem
Yesterday, in a Latest News post on this site, we provided a link to an article describing staffing and budget issues at the Social Security Administration and their impact on client service levels at the agency. Today, we explore an…