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The Villages
Tuesday, March 19, 2024

The candidates and the future of Social Security

To the Editor:

I’m voting for Joe Biden for president of the United States.The choice is very clear. The reasons are countless. Let me give you just one reason I’m voting for Biden and Harris.
Biden will keep and strengthen Social Security — Trump will destroy it.
I turned 60 and retired this year because my body was unable to keep up anymore. I have two more years before I receive Social Security and five more years of paying $800 a month for healthcare insurance before I receive Medicare. In the meantime, I’m withdrawing from my 401K  and working part-time to make ends meet.
I’m relieved I’m able to retire. I’m also counting on receiving Social Security, but whether that plan works out will depend on who is president, and which party has the majority in the House and Senate.
I also worry about how my children and grandchildren will be able to survive when they’re in their golden years. As it is, pensions are going away, while the cost of living is going up, and families are more fragmented. Without Social Security, only the lucky will be protected and secure.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt enacted Social Security in 1935. It’s been working wonderfully for 85 years. The late son of Franklin D. Roosevelt founded the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM). And this year, the NCPSSM has endorsed a presidential candidate for the first time —that candidate is Joe Biden.
Let’s look at the nuts and bolts and compare each candidate’s plan for Social Security. I found this information from Motley Fool, but it’s also available on Biden’s website along with all of his “Bring Back Better” plans.

Biden’s Plan
1. Implement payroll tax on salaries over $400,000
Currently, folks generating more than $400,000 in earned income do not pay Social Security on any amount above $138,000. Biden would require Social Security to be paid on amounts above $400,000.
2. Provide a higher minimum monthly social security benefit
As of 2019, the minimum benefit for lifetime low earners was $886.40 a month. By comparison, monthly benefits would need to be considerably higher just to be above federal poverty levels.
3. Boost benefits for long-lived beneficiaries
As people age, some of their expenses can soar, including out-of-pocket healthcare costs, transportation expenses, and personal assistance services. Unfortunately, Social Security benefits aren’t growing quickly enough to cover this uptick in late-in-life expenses. Under Biden’s Social Security proposal, beneficiaries between the ages of 78 and 82 would receive a bump up in Social Security income. This would provide a modestly larger payout for older beneficiaries that would help to stave off a decline in living standards.
4. Switch the program’s inflationary tether to the CPI-E
Biden wants Social Security to be changed from the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) to the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E). The CPI-W doesn’t do a very good job of accurately measuring the costs that seniors are contending with. Under Biden’s plan, the CPI-E would become the new inflationary tether. The CPI-E specifically tracks the spending habits of households with persons aged 62 and up. In theory, this should result in a more accurate COLA each year.

Trump’s Plan
Finding information on Trump’s Social Security plan wasn’t easy. There is either no plan or a bad plan. When I searched his website for “Social Security,” I found this: “…released his budget proposal, fulfilling his promise that no cuts will be made to Social Security and Medicare benefits.”
President Trump has temporarily removed the Social Security tax effective on Sept. 1 until the end of the year. The IRS doesn’t explicitly say that employers must participate. Employees who participate in the deferral will see a short-term increase in pay, but they’ll face “double withholding” in the first four months of 2021.
“If I’m victorious on November 3rd, I plan to forgive these taxes and make permanent cuts to the payroll tax,” Trump said, per the Washington Post. “I’m going to make them all permanent.” He seems to be trying to bribe the American workforce with this promise.
On Sunday, Trump told reporters that the executive order deferring payroll taxes for some Americans will “have zero impact on Social Security.”  “We protect Social Security,” he added, according to Fox News.
An official from the White House told USA TODAY that the Social Security Trust Fund is not at risk, since payment deferral is only temporary, and at present, must be paid back early in 2021. The official confirmed, though, that the president called on congress to make the deferral permanent, thereby eliminating the tax.
Let’s get real. If the tax is eliminated, then Social Security will essentially be starved to death.
For an idea of how our lives might change without Social Security, take a look at the ways people managed before social security:
Before Social Security was enacted in 1935, retirees were able to get by through a variety of means, many of which are no longer possible or practical.
1. They Had Company Pensions
2. They Put Money in Savings Accounts
3. They Held Onto Cash
4. They Had Annuities
5. They Benefitted From the Civil War Pension Program
6. They Lived in Almshouses and Poor Houses
7. They Relied On Extended Family
8. They Turned To Their Children
9. They Continued Working
10. They Turned To Church Congregations
11. They Asked Neighbors for Help
12. They Sought Help From Strangers
13. They Became Sharecroppers
14. They Used Investments — If They Had Any

Biden has a real plan. Trump is hiding his true agenda. After all, republicans have been trying to get rid of social security since its enactment. They will soon get their wish if their team is re-elected. As for me, I’m ridin’ with Biden!

Amy Jenkins
Village of Country Club Hills

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