OPINION: Imagine what it would be like if you planned to retire this year and your privatized Social Security account plummeted in value. Congress must reject conservative prescriptions consisting of means testing, privatization, and benefit cuts.
It was inevitable that after the 2022 Social Security Trustees report came out that we would see plenty of conservative commentary insisting that the program is headed for “bankruptcy” and “disaster.”
Many fiscal conservatives have opposed Social Security from the beginning, though today they mouth platitudes about supporting the program. Never mind that their “reform” proposals would undermine it at the very core. For decades, Social Security has provided working Americans and their families with basic financial security. Thanks to the dwindling availability of pensions and the increase in wealth inequality, some 90% of retirees rely on Social Security for at least half of their income.
The average Social Security benefit is only about $1,600 per month—or less than $20,000 per year. That amount is woefully inadequate for seniors trying to make ends meet while the out-of-pocket cost of healthcare and other necessities skyrocket. Even though the 2022 cost-of-living adjustment was 5.9%, and next year’s may be higher, COLAs have not kept pace with the cost of essential goods and services.
The chair of the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee, Democrat John Larson, has put forward a bill—Social Security 2100: A Sacred Trust—which would not only extend trust fund solvency but expand benefits. Under his bill, everyone on Social Security would receive a 2% increase, with lower-income beneficiaries, widows and widowers, and the “oldest of the old” receiving an extra boost.
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