"Stop the Raid"

Senator Jim DeMint (R. SC) has offered an amendment to the budget bill currently under consideration. The amendment provides that surplus funds derived from social security taxes not currently required to pay benefits must be used only for future social security benefits; i.e., the money may not be loaned to the federal government and used for general budgetary purposes. The bill is co-sponsored by Senator Claire McCaskill (D. Mo). While it is true that the social security actuary expects that there will be no surplus funds after 2017, at least these 9+ years will provide some cushion while we wait for a solution to the problem.

This blog is being posted on March 12, 2008. If you read it within a few days of posting, contact your senator and urge him or her to support it.

Save Social Security.

US Treasury Issue Brief 3

For those who have been following the US Treasury's series of issue brief regarding the Social Security situation, the third brief has been issued. It can be found at www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/reports/ss_issuebriefno.3.pdf (The blank space in the address is an underscore.) The brief illustrates various proposals for adjusting benefits and tax rates in the future to attempt to provide some equity between groups affected by the shortfall in projected funding of $13.9 trillion dollars.

Contrary to some suggestions, simply removing the cap on wages subject to Social Security taxes falls very short of solving the problem. Without significant changes in the program young workers will see both an increase in taxes and a decrease in benefits. There are many alternatives for addressing this issue but one thing is clear, delay does not make the problem easier to solve. We need to get to work sooner rather than later. Young workers should not be content to say that they do not expect to receive Social Security benefits. They pay a great deal for this program, regardless of their income level. They should demand change.

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