GOP introduces plan to massively cut Social Security

GOP introduces plan to massively cut Social Security

Ethan Wolff-Mann
Yahoo Finance December 9, 2016
12,444 Comments

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A woman holds a sign against cutting benefits. Source: Wikimedia Commons/Djembayz
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On Thursday, Rep. Sam Johnson, a Republican from Texas and chair of the Ways and Means Committee, introduced legislation to significantly cut Social Security.

The bill introduced by Johnson, who is also the chair of the Social Security subcommittee, slashes benefits, adds means testing, and would raise the retirement age from 67 to 69.

For most workers, the bill would cut Social Security benefits substantially. As Michael Linden, associate director for tax and budget policy at Center for American Progress, pointed out on Twitter, a letter from Social Security’s Office of the Actuary calculated workers making around $50,000 would see checks shrink by between 11% and 35%.

Nearly every income bracket would see a reduction, save for the very bottom. People making around $12,280 in 2016 who have worked for 30 years would see an increase of around 20%. But young people making the same amount would be hit hard by the changes. If they had 14 years of work experience by 2016, they would see their benefits cut in half.

The plan would also cut entirely cost of living adjustments (COLA) for retirees earning above $85,000.

If nothing happens, Social Security will start to lose its ability to pay benefits in full in the 2030s.

However, Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo notes that by 2090 it will still be paying at 74%.

Democrats, expectedly, are not pleased with Johnson’s plan, preferring strategies like increasing taxes above the Social Security cap—billionaires pay the same amount as someone making less than $118,000—or raising the Social Security tax itself.

There has, however, been a bipartisan effort for a payroll tax to help keep Social Security funded. For now, Congress will deliberate on Johnson’s proposal in 2017.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/gop-intro...222200857.html

No, just raise the payroll tax to pay for it. There's been no payroll tax increase to Social Security for 26 years and no increase to Medicare for 30 years, so that's why the fund may be low. Are you kidding me? How can Congress fail to pass payroll tax increases to Social Security and Medicare to keep it solvent as it is required to do under the Social Security Act? You can't seriously expect Americans to wait until they're 69 to retire. Half of these workers would already be dead by then and never draw a cent. What is wrong with you evil stupid people?!

Trump has vowed over and over that there will be no cuts to Social Security and Medicare. He has not vowed there will be no increases. If he gets the tax cuts and deregulation through, plus ends illegal immigration and fixes our horrible trade deals, our economy is going to jump like a rocket, higher wages and salaries for all, far less "out of the force" and much more revenue going into SS and Mediciare. Same would be true if he pushes the FairTax and it were to pass. So now is no time at all to be worrying our seniors or those close to retirement about benefits they've earned and they and their employer have already paid for.

Who is behind this phony scare on SS and Medicare anyway? I don't believe Ron Johnson sits around at night on his own dreaming up ways to make people work longer for less. So who is behind this? If anyone knows please post.

https://www.ssa.gov/oact/progdata/taxRates.html

US life expectancy drops for first time in decades - CNN.com

www.cnn.com/2016/12/08/health/us-life-expectancy-down/

2 days ago - Americans can now expect to live 78.8 years, on average.Women can still expect to live longer than men: 81.2 years vs. 76.3 years.(CNN) For the first time since 1993, life expectancy in the United States has dropped significantly for the entire population, not just certain groups.

I doubt that this will go very far, and just makes the proponents look stupid, IMO.

Yeah, Trump will veto it. He promised no cuts to SS or Medicare. He considers it a contract with the people, not to be broken.

Ryan discussed this and it is the same proposal that has been made in the past. Current recipients and those close to retirement have no changes while younger people will have a different plan, probably with more options.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...s-hacking-sta/

You know why they're doing this, right? Those "no new tax pledges". That's why they haven't raised payroll taxes in 25 years on SS and 30 years on Medicare. They need to pass the FairTax and free themselves from that pledge.

:D

Why don't we just cut off all those getting SSI that should not be getting it, like illegal aliens, drug addicts, and all others for various ridiculous reasons. A lot of this money is going out of the country maybe they should stop that before raising payroll taxes. A complete audit of recipients should be done prior to doing anything else.

I think the first thing to do is fix the US economy and then see how the SS and Medicare funds are doing. It's still hard to believe isn't it that with the Baby Boomers coming on, no increases in payroll tax for 3 decades, and the Congress of the people of the United States claims we have to raise the age limit and cut benefits instead of raise payroll taxes to keep the fund solvent?

To me, this is one of those Ironies and Opposites I write about.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lsmith1338

Why don't we just cut off all those getting SSI that should not be getting it, like illegal aliens, drug addicts, and all others for various ridiculous reasons. A lot of this money is going out of the country maybe they should stop that before raising payroll taxes. A complete audit of recipients should be done prior to doing anything else.

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I agree with you lsmith1338. Medicaid should be looked at closely also..

Sam Johnson Unveils Plan to Permanently Save Social Security

Washington, December 8, 2016

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Sam Johnson (TX-03) introduced legislation that will permanently save Social Security, ensuring this vital program continues to work for today’s workers and beneficiaries and future generations. For years, the Social Security Board of Trustees has cautioned the program is on an unsustainable path. This year, the Trustees Report warned workers will face a 21 percent benefit cut starting in 2034 if Congress does not reform the program.

Chairman Johnson’s legislation, the Social Security Reform Act of 2016 (H.R. 6489), puts Social Security back on a sustainable path by modernizing the program for the 21st century, rewarding retirees and individuals with disabilities for their years of work, and improving retirement security.

Upon introducing the legislation, Chairman Johnson said:

“For years I've talked about the need to fix Social Security so that our children and grandchildren can count on it to be there for them just like it’s there for today’s seniors and individuals with disabilities,” said Johnson. “My commonsense plan is the start of a fact-based conversation about how we do just that. I urge my colleagues to also put pen to paper and offer their ideas about how they would save Social Security for generations to come. Americans want, need, and deserve for us to finally come up with a solution to saving this important program.”

The Social Security Reform Act of 2016 ensures Social Security will be there when Americans need it by:

• Modernizing how benefits are calculated to increase benefits for lower income workers while slowing the growth of benefits for higher income workers.
• Gradually updating the full retirement age at which workers can claim benefits. The new retirement age better reflects Americans’ longer life expectancy while maintaining the age for early retirement.
• Ensures benefits keep up with changes in the economy by using a more accurate measure of inflation for the annual Cost-of-Living-Adjustment.
• Protecting the most vulnerable Americans by increasing benefits for lower-income earners and raising the minimum benefit for those who earned less over the course of long careers.
• Promoting flexibility and choice for workers by eliminating the Retirement Earnings Test for everyone. This allows workers to receive benefits—without a penalty—while they are working, or fully delay retirement and wait to receive benefits. For those who delay claiming benefits, they can receive increases in a partial lump sum or add it all to their monthly check.
• Encouraging saving for retirement by phasing out Social Security’s tax on benefits for workers who continue to receive income after they retire or stop working due to a disability.
• Targeting benefits for those most in need by limiting the size of benefits for spouses and children of high-income earners.
• Treating all workers fairly when their Social Security benefits are calculated by using the same, proportional formula that looks at all of an individual’s earnings over the course of his or her career.

To learn more about Chairman Johnson’s Social Security Reform Act of 2016, CLICK HERE.

To read the full bill text, CLICK HERE.

To read the Social Security Actuary letter, CLICK HERE.

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http://samjohnson.house.gov/news/doc...umentID=398516

Leave Social Security and Medicare alone. Period. You goofballs can't even balance the general revenue budget without putting the country in a recession, so don't try to fix something that isn't broken and IF it should run out of money, it's only because you didn''t increase the payroll tax like you're supposed to do for 3 decades, 30 frigging years??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? And you dare sit there and worry about why it might go broke in 20 more years?? Well, DUH!!