Social Security

Here's a factual statement and two arguments about Social Security.

The factual statement is that under any retirement system, the amount of America's national wealth devoted to the elderly is going to increase, for the simple reason that the elderly percentage of the population is going to increase. Today, about 13 percent of the population is over 65; by 2030, that percentage is expected to rise to 20 percent. After that, the percentage will level off -- unless,… more

-The Honorable Douglas Holtz-Eakin Director, Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies, Council on Foreign Relations; Former Director, Congressional Budget Office and Chief Economist, White House Council of Economic Advisors The Honorable Charlie Stenholm Member, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget; Former Member of Congress (D-TX) David Wessel Deputy Washington Bureau Chief and Columnist; Wall Street Journal Maya MacGuineas President, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, New America Foundation

Ever wonder why Social Security didn't crash and burn years ago? After all, for nearly all of the program's history, each generation of retirees has taken far more money out of the system than it contributed in taxes.

The answer is simple, though largely ignored in the current debate over Social Security reform. Today's retirees may not have paid anywhere near as much in taxes as today's workers do. But most contributed something far more valuable to the system:… more

Social Security is a mess. With the oldest babyboomers now four years away from qualifying for benefits, the program faces a shortfall of $12.7 trillion. To close the deficit, the program would need to cut benefits by 27% by the time today's 25-year-olds retire. And yet in this silly season, neither presidential candidate is offering a viable solution: Kerry says he won't touch Social Security; Bush promises an expensive privatization plan that would leave individuals with huge market risks.… more

Today's carefully scripted political campaigns may pay lip service to the diverse interests of seniors, but a surprising number of candidates and their doting political strategists still think the senior vote is won or lost on the battlefield of Social Security and Medicare -- the so-called "third rail" of American politics. Of course, no one worth their political salt would say it out loud, but the stereotype of the "greedy geezer" is still an indelible fixture in the campaign… more

CRFB's suggested questions on the deficit, federal debt, allocation of resources, Social Security, Medicare and the overall size of government. For the full list, please see the attached PDF file.

As election day approaches, the Bush campaign seems baffled by the continued reluctance of voters to credit the president for the past year's generally positive economic numbers. On the campaign trail in Ohio last week, President Bush insisted, "The economy is strong, and it's getting stronger." But, according to recent polls, most Americans believe the economy is getting worse or just holding steady, and the number who approve of Bush's economic stewardship has dropped significantly from the beginning of the… more

Senator John McCain has written that Pete Peterson's new book "provides a clear, concise and unvarnished look at America's political and fiscal deterioration." Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker praises it for showing how "our fiscal profligacy and growing dependence on foreign savings cannot be sustained." Former Senator Bob Kerrey notes that, "

The midterm elections ended the misconception that proposing changes to Social Security leads to a swift political death. President Bush has repeated his support for voluntary personal retirement accounts, and the moderate Democratic Leadership Council also leans toward the idea.

But how to pay for it? Reformers had targeted budget surpluses to fund the transition of Social Security from government collections and disbursements to personally directed investment accounts. But the war on terrorism and the recession-induced decline in tax revenue… more

Over the next several weeks, there will be much navel-gazing and finger-pointing among Democrats as they try to figure out how things went so wrong in this week's elections. There will be a lot of scapegoating and false blame -- for example, some will focus on the overzealous rally after Sen. Paul Wellstone's death, as if that could explain a major trend across the country. The real answer is more profound: Where Democrats lost is in the war of ideas.

Whether… more