Well, what would your solution be?
If you don't have details, you should have some outline at least.
The problem is coming up fast. I am on the leading edge of the baby boomers and I will be 62 (eligible for benefits, even though at a reduced rate) in 4 years.
Some of us would like to be able to plan ahead for retirement and uncertainty in SS is a morally bankrupt policy. Even though there may be no legal right to SS, after 40 years of paying into the system there is a moral and ehtical responsibility for the Federal government to uphold its end of the implicit promise.
The real problem is that once more, those of us who worked hard, saved, and planned ahead are going to be shafted, and those who did no planning, no saving and have no resources will be rewarded.
As much as I would like to see it, privatization is not really a good answer for the very same reason that the crisis will hit us long before SS goes "bankrupt". SS taxes go into the general fund and are spent just like any other taxes. We keep up a pious fiction that there is a "trust fund" but there is no real money in it, just IOUs from the treasury.
As soon as the excess tax collections start to decline, the government will be forced to either:
A. reduce spending,
B. increase taxes, or
C. increase the deficit.
Having watched government in action, my money is on (C). In a lot of ways though, this is a self-defeating course of action. It brings inflation, and the COLA built into SS just means that the obligation will increase right along with the inflation. However, the inflation will essentially transfer money from those foolish enough to have purchased bonds with their savings back to the government.
Anyway best of luck with your campaign, and I am hoping to hear your position on SS reform.
P.S. There is a fourth solution. Sale of government assets, especially land in the western states. This will be hard to get past the enviro-nazis, but it does represent a legitimate solution which would get the country past the obligation to those who have paid into the system for so long and allow payments to be kept up, even in the face of reduced income from privatization.
The tough part is how many people, defined by age, would be grandfathered into the current definitions. People who are 60 now have been planning their retirements for a long time. I would leave their plans alone. For those 59 or less, take the following steps:
1. Increase the age of eligibility by six months every year, until full SS settles in at 70, and partial SS could be set at 65. This roughly matches the longer life spans we now have.
2. KILL THE FAT CONGRESSIONAL RETIREMENT PLAN. Put them all on SS only, and dump the saved money into real people's retirement plans.
3. Adjust the COLA so it matches, rather than exceeds the true COLA increases.
4. Yes, do engage in selling or leasing federal property. You think excessive federal ownership of land is just a western problem. Not so. Half of Macon County, where I live in the Blue Ridge, is owned by the feds.
5. Allow all citizens to invest up to 10% of their SS contributions in private investments. Did you know that there is no ten-year period in history, including during the Depression, that the stock market has failed to OUT-PERFORM the "return" on SS?
There, you asked the question, and I wrapped my hands firmly around the "third-rail" of American politics. That's the way I campaign. I answer any question that anyone asks.
John / Billybob
But the money is already gone --- and that's with the USA having an extremely fast growing population --- the population of this country doubled in the last 50 years --- that's since the baby boomers were born. The system can't survive even with a rapid growth of population, it needs to be ended --- but as painlessly as possible. Everyone should know the money isn't there so they can make plans not to retire or retire only if they have enough other money saved. It's healthier to stay active and go on working anyhow.