The Social Security program
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Paul Krugman
The Clean Little Secret of Social Security
It’s a pretty good program, and we can afford it
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From today's Tangle newsletter:
Q: Could we make Social Security solvent if we just raised the cap on maximum earnings? I saw that Bernie had proposed this at one point and it makes sense but of course it was shot down. I think if you're lucky enough to earn over $176,000 a year the rest of your earnings above that doesn't get social security tax. Seems crazy to be losing out on that income for something that supports so many elderly folks.
— Nick from Pittsburgh, PA
Tangle: Does it seem crazy to miss out on every dollar over that cap, which are dollars that the income earner needs the least? Yes, it does!
This may be something of a rarity, but this question actually has a pretty direct answer: You can make Social Security solvent by slowing the benefit growth for the top half of all earners, and by taxing all wages above $400,000. You can use the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget’s interactive Social Security reforming tool to see it for yourself.
Of course, there are plenty of other ways to reform Social Security. You can raise the retirement age, limit cost of living adjustments, means-test payouts, increase requirements for receiving disability insurance, allow Social Security to be invested in the stock market, or just not pay it out to the top half of income earners at all. However, since you asked us, a combination of increasing (or eliminating) the earning cap and giving fewer benefits to the people who don’t need them seems like the best answer.
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Look up Social Security Works and Nancy Altman. She leads this organization and is the foremost expert on Social Security in the US.
All of the parts of the Social Security Act including Medicare and Medicaid are being cut at this time while the US government sends 100's of billions to foreign countries for war and untold wealth is being given to the likes of Elon Musk in government contracts and future tax breaks.
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I will start receiving it over the summer of 2026 ... or not.
You do NOT want to limit benefits for higher income earners, unless you really want to undermine the political genius of the program. Because it's a universal benefit it has much more support than programs that are targeted on the poor. It's an idea that sociologists Skocpol and Wilson call "targeting within universalism." You effectively target the poor but within a program that is universal.
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Yes, PD is entirely correct on this point.
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Just remove the cap and all of the problems go away. Make sure all income is included - at the full 15% rate.
Win- win!
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This post is deleted!
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The overhaul needed previously (Reagan/ Monyhan) and I believe all previous major overhauls before that, went through the entire legislative process of relevant committees, etc.
Social Security was changed, "saved," and we have a surplus as of today.
It worries me that Congress today doesn't seem very interested in doing its job of legislating.
