>You want to reduce Social Security’s obligations? Fine. Do it across the board. Current projections are that existing taxes will only fund about 75% of legislated benefits after about 2040. Start reducing benefits for EVERYONE now, year by year until it meets that milestone. Keep going and reduce it to zero, while simultaneously ramping up a fully-funded private alternative.
While I appreciate the principle of that, and don’t really have any objections to it in some ways, I also happen to want the program drastically changed, and the middle class (and up) weaned off of entitlements. The above won’t help with that cause. It will also be much, much harder to pass since everyone will scream at once.
>But, targeting a specific group of people without sufficient political power to stop it is class warfare.
No, why I advocate means testing is because I want this Ponzi driven welfare scheme exposed for what it is, so people don’t continue to fool themselves into thinking it is either solvent or an annuity. I want support for Social Security cut off at the knees because it is a scam. Anything which works to chip away at support for the program is an unvarnished good in my book.
The problem right now is that Social Security receives support from across the economic spectrum because FDR managed to get everyone dependent on it. It is untouchable for that very reason. Something has to be done to reduce that support.
As to your neighbor, look, I fully sympathize with your position. I hate when people get to be lazy sots and abuse the system. However that is inevitable in any welfare system. Social Security is a welfare system. It’s just a strange welfare system because it covers the non poor as well.
I understand what you are trying to do. But, I think you are mistaken in believing it will succeed. All it will do is win another battle for the class warriors and increase their political power.
If 25% of Social Security payments are eliminated at the upper end, it becomes solvent again. And then it will never be killed.