Don’t squeeze taxpayers’ retirement benefits
What’s debt got to do with it?
Rep. Larson wrote the following Letter to the Editor that appeared in the Washington Post:
The July 24 editorial, “The national debt can be tamed,” identified Social Security as one of the “three most urgent areas for reform,” but it is a great misnomer that Social Security adds to the national debt.
Operating independently of the federal budget, Social Security is funded through payroll contributions collected from workers and employers. Though the program is facing insolvency — and a 21 percent cut in benefits — by 2033 if Congress fails to act, it has never missed a payment.
Raising the retirement age — as the editorial proposed — represents a further cut in benefits. Every year the retirement age is raised translates to a 7 percent benefit cut. Raising the age to 70, a proposal embraced by the right-wing Heritage Foundation, would be about a 21 percent cut. This would disproportionately affect many blue-collar workers, who perform physically demanding jobs and often have to retire earlier.
Social Security is the safety net of capitalism and entrepreneurialism. It allows people to take risks while ensuring no one will work all their lives just to end up in poverty.
There are better ways to make Social Security more efficient than cutting benefits. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, along with The Post’s editorial, call for scrapping the payroll cap on high-income earners. This would extend solvency and allow Congress to enhance benefits.
John B. Larson, East Hartford, Conn.
The writer, a Democrat, represents Connecticut’s 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House.