WARREN: 'There Is No Immediate Crisis Facing Social Security' [View all]

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"If we made no changes at all to Social Security," Warren said, "it would continue to make payments at the current level for about 20 years," meaning there is no immediate crisis facing the program, which assists some 58 million Americans. "Modest adjustments," she added, "will make certain… we could increase benefits for those who need it most."

One way to increase monthly benefits to seniors, Warren said, would be to broaden the program's funding pool. She did not elaborate on how, but one proposal that has been floated in recent years would raise the cap on the level of earnings subject to the Social Security tax. In 2013, for example, Americans paid a Social Security tax of 6.2 percent on wages up to $113,700. Earnings over that amount were not subject to the tax. Several members of Congress have introduced legislation that would lift or eliminate this cap, including Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Mark Begich (D-Alaska), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Reps. Gwen Moore (D-Wisc.), Pete DeFazio (D-Ore.), and Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.). Harkin's bill would increase Social Security payments by $70 a month for low- and middle-income beneficiaries.

Another way to increase the program's funding base, tax experts say, would be to close loopholes that drain money from Social Security. Each year, for instance, employers misclassify millions of workers as independent contractors instead of employees, according to the IRS. That means employers don't pay their portion of the Social Security tax, and the $2.8 trillion Social Security trust fund is juked out of billions of dollars in revenue annually.

A less obvious, but effective way of directing more money into the Social Security pot, Warren said, would be to increase the federal minimum wage. "Raising the minimum wage means we have workers paying more in to support the Social Security system," she said. Warren backs Obama's call for a minimum wage hike from $7.25 to $9 an hour.

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/12/elizabeth-warren-expand-social-security-third-way