"Cockroach Ideas"
Paul Krugman is frustrated by cockroaches: Way back, when I spent a year in the government, an old hand told me that fighting bad ideas is like flushing cockroaches down the toilet; they just come right back. I’m having that...
Pre-Payment for Services and Social Security
I keep seeing the argument that the way Social Security is funded -- the young provide the funds needed for the retirement of the elderly -- and the fact that tax collections can be viewed as one big pot of...
Social Security is *Not* Welfare
Robert Samuelson is making the same wrong argument about Social Security being welfare that he's been making for years: Why Social Security is welfare, by Robert J. Samuelson: ...Here is how I define a welfare program: First, it taxes one...
Social Security and Longevity
Those who want to cut Social Security benefits because people are living longer, e.g. through raising the retirement age, assume longevity is independent of the Social Security system. That assumption may be false: Study links social security improvements to longer...
"Why Social Security Isn’t a Problem"
This is my preferred method of bringing the Social Security system back into balance: Why Social Security Isn’t a Problem for 26 Years, and the Best Way to Fix It Permanently, by Robert Reich: ...Back in 1983, Alan Greenspan’s Social...
Barking Up the Wrong Tree: Social Security is *Not* the Problem
[Source: CBO]
Though there seems to be a concerted effort to get people to believe otherwise, Social Security has very little to do with our long-run budget problem.
SOTU: Obama Won’t Endorse Raising Retirement Age or Reducing Social Security Benefits
Some news on the State of the Union address: Obama won't endorse raising retirement age or reducing Social Security benefits, by Lori Montgomery, Washington Post: President Obama has decided not to endorse his deficit commission's recommendation to raise the retirement...
Cutting Social Security to Prevent Cuts in Social Security?
There is a report that Obama is considering featuring Social Security reform, including benefit cuts, in his State of the Union address: ... The tax deal negotiated by President Barack Obama and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is...
Deal Reached to Extend All the Bush Tax Cuts
Here are the details of the agreement on the Bush tax cuts: 1) The Bush tax cuts get extended for two years -- with one ugly surprise: For the next two years, estates up to $5,000,000 will be protected from...
"Workers Must Work Longer for Less Because the Rich are Living Longer"
It's nice to see the local paper highlighting this side of the Social Security debate: Washington elites making their move on Social Security, by Nancy Altman and Eric Kingson, Commentary, Register Guard: Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, the co-chairs of...
"Raise Retirement Age and More Become Disabled"
Raising the retirement age also raises disability applications, so this won't save as much money as many people think, and could even make things worse if the early retirement age is changed (the early retirement age is currently 62): Raise...
"Questioning a Payroll Tax Holiday"
Bruce Bartlett says a payroll tax holiday is a bad idea: Questioning a Payroll Tax Holiday, by Bruce Bartlett: Pete Domenici and Alice Rivlin have proposed a one-year payroll tax holiday to stimulate the economy. I have previously explained why...
