Expand Social Security
By
Robert Reich
America
is on the cusp of a retirement crisis. Millions of Americans are already
in danger of not being able to maintain their standard of living in retirement,
and the problem is getting worse.
You
hear a lot about how corporations are struggling to make good on their
pension promises, and how Social Security won’t be there for you in retirement.
Baloney
on both counts.
Nowadays
most workers are lucky if their company matches what they’re able to put away.
The typical firm does no more than offer a 401-K plan that depends entirely on
worker savings.
But
many workers get such low pay during their working lives that they haven’t been
able to save for retirement.
At
the same time, the cost of pharmaceuticals keeps rising, taking an ever-bigger
bite out of retiree incomes.
That
means Social Security is more important than ever. Today, two-thirds of seniors
derive over half of their income from Social Security, and one-third of seniors
rely on it for at least 90% of their income. Without it, the poverty rate of
our seniors would be 45% instead of 10%.
Social
Security will be there for you in your retirement. The problem is it won’t pay
you enough.
That’s
why it’s important to expand Social Security – not cut Social Security
benefits.
How?
We
can afford to increase Social Security benefits, as well as help ensure the
solvency of Social Security, by eliminating the cap on income subject to Social
Security taxes.
Unlike
the Medicare payroll tax that everyone pays as a small portion of their total
incomes, the Social Security payroll tax is capped. Any income over $118,500
this year is exempt from it. Which means a billionaire pays the same Social
Security payroll tax as someone earning $118,500.
This
isn’t fair and it’s not sensible. Billionaires and millionaires should pay just
like everyone else.
Scrap
the cap, and not only is Social Security more secure for you and your kids, but
it will be able to pay out even more benefits in your retirement.
America’s
seniors, who paid in to Social Security over their lifetimes,
deserve enough retirement income to live on.
If
wealthy Americans pay their fair share, we can make sure tomorrow’s
seniors get the Social Security they truly need.
ROBERT
B. REICH, Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of
California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center for Developing
Economies, was Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration. Time Magazine
named him one of the ten most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth
century. He has written thirteen books, including the best sellers
“Aftershock" and “The Work of Nations." His latest, "Beyond
Outrage," is now out in paperback. He is also a founding editor of the
American Prospect magazine and chairman of Common Cause. His new film,
"Inequality for All," is now available on Netflix, iTunes, DVD, and
On Demand.