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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhen You're Cutting Social Security, 'Wealthy' Begins at $25K
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/02/23-3Here's a proposal for Social Security that was on the New York Times' op-ed page Wednesday (2/20/13):
The top third of beneficiaries (by lifetime income) [would] receive no annual cost-of-living adjustment in retirement. The middle third would get half of todays adjustment, and the bottom third would receive the same annual increase they do now. Such a reform
would reduce Social Security spending by more than a tenth over a decade and fix the programs long-term financing.
Wealthy or super-wealthy? This is part of Paul Ryan adviser Yuval Levin's attempt to find "common ground" on the entitlement issue: "Both sides should agree at least to spend less money on the wealthy." So who are these "wealthy" people who would be getting a benefit cut equal to the rate of inflation every year? According to the SSA, about 34 percent of people over 65 have family incomes of $50,000.
Now, you can argue about what "wealthy" is, but I think you would find pretty widespread agreement on what wealthy isn't: $50,000 a year. If you sent the New York Times an op-ed outlining your plan to balance the budget by raising taxes on "wealthy" people who make 50k a year or more, it would be put in the same pile that gets the submissions about Elvis's UFO diet. But when you're talking about cutting entitlements, if you want to call those people "wealthy," that's perfectly reasonable.
But wait! Those aren't the only people who are getting too much from the government and need to have their benefits cutthe middle third of the elderly are also "wealthy" and need their benefits cutbut by only half the rate of inflation per year. The ones making more than $50,000 must be the super-wealthy, the regular wealthy make between $25,000 and $50,000, roughly.
For comparison purposes, the poverty line for a family of four is $23,350. Talk about a shrinking middle class!
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When You're Cutting Social Security, 'Wealthy' Begins at $25K (Original Post)
eridani
Mar 2013
OP
rurallib
(63,085 posts)1. be careful what you ask for
when they start chopping SS into silos it becomes another form of welfare with maximums and minimums etc. When there are limits the limits can be changed with payments becoming less and less until only the very, very poor get a very, very small amount.
eridani
(51,907 posts)2. Please write to your representatives about this, regardless of party n/t