Frankly I don't understand the problem the President and Democrats have with making adjustments to entitlements that will enhance the likelihood those entitlements will be there for our kids and grand kids.
Recall that we ( or at least me) said that we will never get our Social Security. Guess what, I am ; because it got "fixed" by making adjustments . We can do so again with comparably little real "pain".
Why are President Obama and the Democrats resisting entitlement reform which mostly impact the rich ?
Here are some of the ideas that should get broad support :
1. Raise the eligibility age for Social Security and Medicare-- people are living longer and healthier lives - exceptions can be made for some jobs. Since poor people don't live as long as rich people and blue collar people don't live as long as white collar people and have less "healthy" retirement years, means testing may be the answer there, along with exceptions for more strenuous jobs.
2. Means test Medicare premiums. Maybe even receiving Social Security should be means tested while you're still working at a certain income level.
3. Adjust CPI if it would really be more accurate. This was designed to keep up with inflation, not be an added benefit. If current CPI is viewed as a needed benefit for the poor, means test those individuals getting CPI adjustments altogether.
4. Raise the payroll tax income cut off for Social Security without raising benefits ; and face up to the fact that it's a tax and not insurance, as originally structured . I understand that Obama and liberal Dems would do this in a second if they thought it would pass Congress . However I haven't heard them even propose it . Yes I know it would be considered a tax increase , but at least it won't be that onerous and it would really shore up the system.
5. All means testing should be based on cumulative lifetime income , which information is readily available from the statements we receive from the government periodically.
None of these changes if phased in over time would be catastrophic, and would go a long way towards solving the solvency problem of both programs.
Why are President Obama and the Democrats resisting this , especially for the benefit of the "rich" ?
Eric
Assume you saw this...
ReplyDeleteWhy aren’t we talking about what the public wants when it comes to
Social Security and Medicare?
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/the-war-on-entitlements/
Thanks, I read NYT piece with great interest.
ReplyDeleteI have some thoughts on this, including the fact that when they refer to employers matching indiviuals social security and medicare taxes, the "employer" in my case is me! ( sorry for the exclamation point).
I wonder why they leave the employer match out of the charts? Someones paying it, directly or indirectly.
So many are actually paying in a lot more than what it appears that wealthy people pay from the chart in the article.
That being said , I still favor the means testing as proposed in my post.
It's not surprising that liberals look for solutions that involves more taxing and conservative look more to cutting spending , even upon the more wealthy, as the solution.
One side wants more government, the other less. And that is what the real fight is all about here.