The Bush tax cuts should absolutely *not* be restored, because they offer an amazing opportunity that should *not* be missed.
To downgrade and repair the Social Security System, while harming as few people as possible! Here’s the idea, and please tell people about it!
Not too long ago, “means testing” was proposed to help the SSS remain solvent. The idea was that people who already have money shouldn’t get SS benefits. It was a HUGELY UNPOPULAR idea. Politically impossible.
So instead, make people who are getting SS benefits a deal. If they need their SS money to live, fine, they can have their SS money. But if they have other income, give them a *choice* to instead of taking their SS money, to *not* take it.
Instead, they can get a *tax deduction* that would work out to them getting even *more* money, through saving their income money.
That is, the Bush tax cuts become the Social Security tax cuts.
And just because they are not taking the money owed them by SS, it makes the SS system *solvent*, overnight! And that’s phase one.
Phase two is to get people still paying into the SSS a similar deal, so they can *choose* to put money into an IRA, *instead* of SS, *and* cash in *another* year’s worth of the money they already paid into SS as a tax deduction, as long as that money also goes to their IRA.
This means that their IRA would gain two years of payments for every year they continued to earn income. A wonderful deal for them.
Again, the Bush tax cuts become Social Security tax cuts.
Lastly, only let people who are minimum wage (zone) workers enter the SS system in the first place. In the future, it will become a retirement system just for them, because they have no other retirement.
So this means that America not only gets all the benefits of the Bush tax cuts, but used in such as way as to stop the one of the two biggest drains on the federal budget.
Everybody wins. The well to do and the poor, the economy because of the tax cuts, and even the federal government doesn’t take any more of a hit than it is taking right now.
If we just restore the Bush tax cuts, we still have the huge problem of Social Security to deal with. Why not kill two birds with one stone?
While you have a very good solution to the traditional SS recipient, retirees aren’t the major problem, SSI and SSD are the problem.
There’s plenty of waste, fraud and abuse. For example, if you have a misbehaving “ADHD” kid you’ll get $500-600 per month. Children with true, severe disabilities don’t cost the parents anything with Medicaid, school based services, etc...but they’re still getting a fat check each month.
SSI should be abolished completely, it’s welfare, plain and simple. SSD is like a premature retirement but the dirty little secret is...no matter how “disabled” you are, if you’re persistent and see the process through three times, you’re pretty much guaranteed an award.
Granted, it’s not much (the amount you get is based on the amount you’ve earned so the harder/longer workers get more) but the prospect of a government check for the rest of your life while you sit around doing nothing is attractive to a whole bunch of people, unfortunately. Particularly when you combine it with your Section 8 housing, SSI for several kids, the EITC if someone works a little bit, food stamps, subsidized day care that helps you get the rugrats out of your hair even though you don’t go to work, free breakfasts and lunches at school...you get the picture.
Also did you know if you voluntarily retire and begin drawing SS while you have minor child(ren) your child(ren) will receive a check without reducing your benefit? What is that all about? Just extra money being paid out!!