The political party responsible for Social Security’s financial instability is…
Well, it’s both of course. As Sean Williams writes in this piece, neither party has fully addressed the looming partial insolvency due to occur in 2034, when benefits will have to be cut 21% across the board. Past surpluses are preventing cuts until then, but Social Security paid out more in benefits in 2018 than it collected in income (mainly through payroll taxes). That will continue every year until 2034. Democrats have traditionally favored tax increases, a mix of hiking the 12.4% combined employer-employee payroll tax and/or raising the cap on income subject to to tax (currently at about $139,000). Republicans have favored gradually raising the retirement age, which has only changed by two years in the program’s 83 year history. Williams favors a combination of both approaches. Read full piece 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.