Social Security Change Proposals : Changes Have Consequences

When the progressive socialist propose a change in Social Security it's only to shore up their hold on those that are already on (SS) and those that are about to, as well as millions that are unemployed cheating on the system to survive, you have to know the changes are for increased payments to recipients to vote Democrat to keep the grave train going and that is soon to go off the rails. We are broke!

Remember the United States is 90 trillion in debt for all of the mandates promised by our corrupt government. Just who is going to pay for all this nonsense? Be careful who you vote for in November as this will determine our future. Voting for more of the same makes no sense.

Ten Things to Keep in Mind When Discussing Social Security Reform
Source: Charles Blahous, "Don't Worsen Social Security's Soaring Cost Problem," Economic Policies for the 21st Century, December 23, 2013.

January 2, 2014

Followers of politics may have noticed a recent push from the left to expand Social Security benefits above and beyond the current-law growth schedule (which itself remains unfinanced). While expanding a popular program carries an obvious political utility, any reasonably careful analysis of Social Security reveals the idea to be highly problematic at best.

Listed below are 10 factors to bear in mind whenever proposals to change Social Security benefits are discussed, says Charles Blahous, a senior research fellow for the Mercatus Center, a research fellow for the Hoover Institution, and a public trustee for Social Security and Medicare.

• #1: On the positive side, these proposals acknowledge that the Social Security benefit formula should be changed.
• #2: Social Security benefits are already increasing substantially under current law, and would continue to increase under various proposals to maintain solvency.
• #3: Unless current-law benefit increases are substantially slowed, younger workers will shoulder unprecedented cost burdens.
• #4: The left's latest proposals embody a conscious effort to recast the Social Security debate by adopting a policy position well outside of longstanding mainstream opinion.
• #5: Looking solely at Social Security benefits is uninformative; a meaningful analysis must compare both ends of the equation -- the taxes it collects from workers as well as the benefits it later pays.
• #6: Further increasing Social Security benefits does not increase total resources available to finance retirement income.
• #7: Further increasing Social Security benefits for current participants would worsen existing inequities.
• #8: Social Security benefits and cost burdens are already increasing faster than participants' pre-retirement income.
• #9: Social Security benefits and costs have already risen to the point of destroying many individuals' ability and incentive to save.
• #10: Social Security benefits are already growing so fast that Americans' reliance on Social Security for retirement income increases even as national incomes rise.