retirement security

If the Administration so much as puts another Social Security tax cut on the table, they will be throwing Social Security under the bus for uncertain—indeed, unlikely—economic gain.

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In “What Would FDR Do,” a paper for the Progressive Policy Institute, retirement policy expert Sylvester Schieber not only gets FDR’s legacy wrong—he gets the facts about Social Security wrong. And in exaggerating Social Security’s shortfall to make the case for regressive benefit cuts like raising the retirement, Schieber also gets the meaning of the word “progressive” wrong.

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On Face the Nation this Sunday, Sen. Mark Warner was asked by host Bob Schieffer why his ‘Gang of Six’ would take on Social Security reform in their forthcoming budget proposal. His response reflected a commonly-held myth about Social Security’s history that greatly exaggerates the changes in the worker-to-retiree ratio between 1950 and today.

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There's been so much noise about what Paul Ryan's budget plan does to Medicare and Medicaid that the damage it does to Social Security has gone unnoticed.

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When Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) called for "raising the cap" on Social Security's taxable wage base at a "Back Off Social Security" rally and press conference a week ago, he elicited roars of approval and chants of "raise the cap" from the hundreds-strong crowd. But if, as Sen. more »

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Halloween has come early this year for Wall Street Democrats who are busy disguising their plans to gut Social Security as "progressive"--and smearing Social Security while they're at it.

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What would legendary House Speaker Thomas “Tip” O’Neill (D-MA) do, if he were here right now? That seems like an important question to ask now that President Obama has invoked the 1983 Reagan-O’Neill deal on Social Security as a model of responsible, bipartisan “entitlement” reform. But in order to understand what O’Neill would do, we need to accurately recall exactly what he did and the circumstances in which he did it. A closer look at the history reveals that President Obama has a lot to learn if he is to live up to O’Neill’s legacy.

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A few months ago, when Fiscal Commission Co-Chairs Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson released their Social Security proposal, even their worst critics conceded that the plan would improve benefits for the very poorest. According to a new analysis by the Chief Actuary of the Social Security Administration, however, that just isn't true. The Bowles-Simpson proposal would reduce benefits by as much as $1,107 (16%) for 60% of “Very Low” earners, those workers with average annual earnings of around $10,800. Click here to see a graph of the benefit cuts prepared by Social Security Works, or check it out below.

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Progressives really owe Third Way a debt of gratitude. Finally, some austerity hawks that come clean about the true intentions of their proposals to cut Social Security. Unlike Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, who were shamed into insisting that their proposed cuts were only for the purpose of “strengthening Social Security,” in Third Way's report, "Saving Social Security,"Jim Kessler and David Kendall effectively admit that cutting Social Security should be a part of deficit reduction. more »

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As usual, the Democrats are on track to do the Republicans’ dirty work—only to suffer the political fallout later on. What else could one conclude from the rampant rumors that President Obama will signal his willingness to “compromise” (read: cut) on Social Security in the State of the Union address? Anyone who doubts that this would amount to political suicide, hasn’t read National Review editor, Ramesh Ponnurru’s column in the New York Times last Friday, instructing Republican politicians that they should wait for President Obama to act first on Social Security “reform” (read: benefit cuts). Here’s the kicker: Ponnurru specifically suggests that Republicans should champion “entitlement reform,” if, and only if, Obama dangles Social Security as an area of compromise in the State of the Union address. As friends of the President, we progressives must stop him from granting Ponnurru’s wish—and the wishes of so many conservatives eager to have the President do their bidding. Click here to read Ponnurru's column. more »

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