IT WON'T BE REMOVED. Obama has never proposed removing the cap complete no would Congress ever approve it. It would be DOA.
2.) The age for normal retirement, or full retirement benefits, will be increased. Yes, that has happened already, but it is going to happen again.
I agree. It just won't be 70 like you stated.
3.) The benefit itself will be subject to higher taxation levels, if not made 100% taxable. As stated earlier, just because the benefit would become fully taxable, does NOT mean that everyone will owe taxes on that benefit. The Standard Deductions are still there. The Exemptions are still there.
Just is not going to happen. Obama and the Dems are not going to approve any increased taxation for those at the lower end of the economic spectrum. THERE WILL BE NO 100% TAXATION OF BENEFITS.
SS IS BROKEN AND UNSUSTAINABLE. MOREOVER, MEDICARE AND MEDICAID ARE ABOUT THREE TIMES WORSE OFF THAN SS. WE CAN'T TAX OUR WAY OUT OF THE PROBLEM.
Means testing of benefits is not politically do able.
More over, income is dynamic, and it would be an expense, to government, to grant and take away benefits each year, based on income.
(Oh, one exception: We DO means test Medicare, to some small extent, not everyone pays the same premiums. Expect Part B premiums to become even more expensive, for those who are not in poverty. But this is easier to do, since most "premiums" are already deducted from SS checks, which is an easy way to "means test" Medicare by reducing SS benefits) You are contradicting yourself and you don't even realize your contradictions.
YES, these programs are not sustainable -— and changes in the programs, themselves, is therefore REQUIRED!
The easiest way to make a very quick change is to say that “nobody earning less than $25,000 will be taxed on their Social Security” WITHOUT TELLING PEOPLE HOW THE FORMULA REALLY WORKS!
It is the complicated formula, itself, for taxing benefits, which pretty much guarantees that the taxable amount will go up, since nobody seems to understand current law, anyway. The tax system will be our government's method to "means test" Social Security. Count on it, it is going to happen.