Democrat Group Wants To Eliminate Social Security For The Wealthy

Which is something I’m not necessarily opposed to. Social Security is an entitlement behemoth, the nation is teetering on the edge of fiscal calamity, so anything we can do to reduce spending burden should be on the table.

A Democratic-led policy group is proposing changes in Social Security that party members have resisted for years in an effort to pave the way for recommendations this week by President Barack Obama’s deficit-cutting commission.

Washington-based Third Way said its plan would raise the retirement age, trim or eliminate Social Security benefits for high-income retirees, limit cost-of-living increases and provide money to help young workers create private retirement accounts.

The proposal, to be released after the presidential panel is due to issue its report on Dec. 1, is timed to help create a buffer for congressional Democrats to support politically unpopular deficit-trimming measures, said Third Way spokesman Sean Gibbons.

“Whatever comes out of the commission is going to be a hot potato,” Gibbons said. “So we wanted to send something over that was especially hot.”

Social Security costs will exceed tax revenue beginning in 2015, according to the trustees’ 2010 report. The shortfalls will be covered by the plan’s trust fund until 2037, when those reserves are projected to be exhausted. Over the next 75 years, the trust fund would need another $5.4 trillion in current dollars to pay all scheduled benefits.

The problem, of course, is that there will be no cuts in payroll taxes to offset the reductions in Social Security benefits. The goal is to reduce the deficit, so that makes sense. They’ll keep collecting the same amount of taxes but pay our less.

Not exactly a good deal for the taxpayer.

Really, though, you have to wonder why people who have no need of Social Security end up collecting it. Most elderly Americans do not depend on Social Security. The only collect it because they’re getting back the money that was paid into it.

At the very least, shouldn’t we reduce Social Security to a safety net program rather than an unsustainable government pension system? Pay out Social Security benefits only to those who have an actual need for them. Then cut payroll taxes accordingly.