A plan for fixing social security by Billy Eugene Dickerson
Published as a letter to the editor in the Bolivar Free-Herald. Reprinted here with permission of the author.
How to fix social security by Billy Eugene Dickerson
What’s the best way to “fix†social security? President Roosevelt had a good idea when he set up social security. The problem is he set it up like a slow moving pyramid club that would go bankrupt if not “fixed†every few years.
How to fix it permanently? How about keeping social security payments where they are and removing the $90,000 cap? In other words, make it a flat tax on all earnings. At the same time, stop building up the trust fund. Set the tax rate each year at just enough to make social security payments for that year. This would be a permanent fix that would allow full cost of living (COLA) increases every year, keep the retirement age at 65 and, because the flat tax would bring in much more money and there would be no build up of the trust fund, greatly reduce social security tax rates for both employee and employer!
Could this common sense plan be adopted? Remember that the people in the media who would be discussing this plan, the politicians who would be voting on it and about everyone of influence make much more than $90,000 and would have to pay a little more. Would these wealthier Americans be willing to pay a few dollars more for the good of their country? I wouldn’t bet on it!
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Stumble It!
March 23rd, 2007 at 6:28 pm
Interesting idea, but it wouldn’t work in practice (at least not well). First off if we stop building up the trust fund and instead go only with the money each year, what is going to happen to the current trust fund? Politicians will gobble it up like candy. This would cause bigger government and of course more taxes. Second if it only works from year to year, then it would be easy to hike up the cost of living payments. This would be tantamount to buying retiree’s votes. God those would get sky-high within a few years. Social Security should be gotten rid of in my opinion. Let people take care of themselves again.
March 24th, 2007 at 7:52 am
Nothing can fix a system which was designed to take more in than it gave out but fell victim to changes that lead to longer lives of the participants. As presently conceived SS is seen as something whereby one takes out for oneself more than one puts in. One cannot do this in real life and any plan to ‘repair’ such a system must fail. Only one system of any merit is that one must save for oneself and having been either a good or bad husband of ones own resources live to the end of them. Death once was the final determiner of ones lifestyle.
Such is life…