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Cliff Schecter's post | Latest updates on Sulia

Social Security Common Sense Vs Austerity

It is heartening to see some Democrats acting like they actually won the election and 89% of the people in key swing state polls (Ohio, New Hampshire) pre-election made clear they do not want their Social Security cut: ------- But if one wants to make the program solvent indefinitely without endangering vulnerable seniors, there are options. A new bill from Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska), the Protecting and Preserving Social Security Act, provides one method. The Begich bill would lift the current payroll tax cap, which exempts wages in excess of a certain amount ($110,100 this year) from the tax. In turn, it would give high earners, who would pay more, additional benefits upon retirement, just as benefits increase as wages do for workers below the cap. According to the Congressional Research Service, a change like that would almost entirely wipe out the program’s long-run actuarial imbalance. Specifically, it would eliminate 95 percent of the shortfall, meaning that a mild increase in the payroll tax rate from 12.4 percent to 12.5 percent would be enough to cover the tiny remaining gap. And without any changes at all, the program would be able to pay out full benefits until after 2085. Indeed, the exhaustion date for the trust fund following such a change is so far in the future that CRS didn’t even calculate it. But Begich’s bill doesn’t just increase taxes for high earners. It also increases benefits across-the-board. ------ During rough economic times, really during any time, doesn't this make much more sense than what that traveling clown show of Erskine & Alan want? That was rhetorical, btw..