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Mitch Daniels on Social Security
Republican IN Governor
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Stop paying pension benefits to the wealthy
One item on our national must-do list: we must unite to save the safety net. Medicare and Social Security have served us well, and that must continue. But after 1/2 and 3/4 of a century respectively, it's not surprising that they need some repairs.
We can preserve them unchanged and untouched for those now in or near retirement, but we must fashion a new, affordable safety net so future Americans are protected, too.Decades ago we could afford to send millionaires pension checks and pay medical
bills for even the wealthiest among us. Now, we can't, so the dollars we have should be devoted to those who need them most.
The mortal enemies of Social Security and Medicare are those who, in contempt of the plain arithmetic, continue to mislead
Americans that we should change nothing. The better course is to stop sending the wealthy benefits they do not need, and stop providing them so many tax preferences that distort our economy and do little or nothing to foster growth.
Source: GOP response to the 2012 State of the Union speech
, Jan 24, 2012
Means testing for Social Security
Unreformed Social Security and Medicare will destroy not only themselves but our national economy. To me, an obvious place to start is with means testing. Ask any Hoosier, "Why are we sending a pension check to Warren Buffet?" and the answer always
starts with a laugh. Especially now that the resources are so clearly inadequate, it is obvious that we should direct the available funds to those most in need, those whom FDR had in mind when he started Social Security.
In truth, there has never been any reason, humanitarian or economic, for this absurdity of giving money to rich people except the nakedly political one. So by all means let's means test. Concentrate the dollars we can afford on those with the least
wealth and the lowest retirement income. Let's hear the no-change lobby answer the Buffett question.President Obama is fond of thundering ," Warren Buffet doesn't need a tax cut!" No, Mr. President, and he doesn't need a social security check either.
Source: Keeping the Republic, by Mitch Daniels, p.199-200
, Sep 20, 2011
Raise the retirement age; replace COLA
Let's get real about the retirement age. Of course even now Americans are either choosing or being forced to work past the traditional 65 or 67 years. Many can relate to Red Skelton's line "I can't retire. I have a federal government to support!" but in
seriousness, it is time for the system to catch up to the facts of life--long life. Americans are living longer than they did in 1935, a lot longer. They are reaching their mid-sixties not only in far greater numbers but also in far better health than
they did back then.We can simply restore FDR's original design and increase future benefits to offset inflation. Most people with whom I discuss this issue think that's what a COLA does. Up until the 1970s, they were right.
No benefits go up with wages rather than living costs, so they outpace inflation almost every year. Going back to a pure-inflation adjustment system, or doing so for higher-income recipients only, is another fair and sensible way to protect the system.
Source: Keeping the Republic, by Mitch Daniels, p.202
, Sep 20, 2011
Page last updated: Apr 25, 2013