On January 29,2010, U. S. News & World Report posted an article by John Rother, the executive vice president for policy and strategy for AARP. The article deals with the idea of means testing social security benefits. Mr. Rother opposes the idea, as do I.
On one of the political analysis shows recently, I heard a panelist say, "Why should we pay social security to Warren Buffet?" The ignorance of that question amazes me. One of the things to remember in discussing tax policy is that whatever behavior is rewarded by tax programs will increase, whatever behavior is taxed heavily will decrease. To place a means test on social security benefits is to tell people that they will be penalized for saving money and planning for retirement. It is to say to people that even though money was taken out of their paychecks since they began working, that money would go to people who had been less responsible.
Why should we pay social security to Warren Buffet? Because he has had money taken from him all his working life on the promise that it would be paid to him in retirement. What are we saying about the trustworthiless of the American government if we break that promise? Should we instead be looking at the Congressmen who have been robbing the Social Security fund since the 1960's, when they opted out of Social Security and set up their own retirement fund. Our tax dollars subsidize that fund and its generous retirement benefits, but oddly enough, Congress has never taken money out of their retirement fund and put it into the general treasury.
In his article, Mr. Rother points out:
"Social Security's enduring popularity reflects the insurance nature of the program: Recipients have an earned right to their retirement benefits. Everyone who pays into the program is entitled to benefits. If you work long enough in covered employment, you qualify, no matter where you stand on the income ladder. Almost everyone with a job has a personal stake in keeping the program strong. And let's not forget the matter of fairness. Everyone who contributes through the payroll tax--including the affluent--deserves a fair return on his or her contributions. This expectation is not an exaggerated sense of entitlement. It's reasonable."
The government does not have the right to renege on the promise of Social Security. The system does need to be revised to keep it solvent, but that should not involve penalizing people for planning ahead.
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