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On the Issues: Social Security

Protecting Social Security

Social Security is the best and most efficient federal program ever designed, with only 1 percent of the funds spent on program administration. The program has kept seniors out of poverty, particularly women and widows, who compromise 58 percent of all beneficiaries.  Social Security also provides payments to disabled children and disabled non-retired adults who make up one-third of the beneficiaries. In May 2009, the Social Security Board of Trustees reported that Social Security will be solvent and able to provide full benefits until the year 2037; however, the program must be reformed to absorb the weight of the baby boomer retirement.

One option for solidifying Social Security is a bill I introduced called the Social Security Forever Act of 2009 (H.R. 1863).    Currently, only the first $106,800 of annual income is taxable for Social Security purposes.  It is unreasonable to fund Social Security entirely on the backs of working and middle class Americans.  With rising income inequality, it is time that wealthy Americans pay their fair share for Social Security, and that is exactly what this bill addresses by imposing a 3% tax on employees and employers for all income above the contribution and benefit base.

As the debate continues, there are two options that I will never support: benefit cuts and privatization.  Many of our seniors can barely survive on the current benefit system.  Benefit cuts must not be a part of any Social Security reform discussion.  Further, proposals to privatize portions of the Social Security Trust are short-sighted and just plain wrong.  If there is one thing that we have learned from the market in recent months, it is that the risks are unacceptably high.  The Social Security Trust Fund must not be subject to the wild fluctuations of the stock market.  Many Americans near retirement age have lost most of their life-savings due to the recession or to ponzi schemes, and Social Security is all they have left.  We must keep the Social Security commitment today, tomorrow, and for generations to come.

Click here to read Congressman Wexler's press release on the Social Security Forever Act.

The Social Security Notch Issue

The Social Security formula unfairly penalizes individuals born between 1917-1926 (known as Notch Babies), and I am working hard to provide financial reparations to individuals affected. To fix this inequity, I filed the Notch Fairness Act of 2009 (H.R. 1067), which would provide a $5000 lump sum settlement for these seniors.  Passage of Notch legislation is a great priority of mine, and I will work hard to achieve equality after all these years.
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