- Jun 6, 2007
- 854
- 487
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Nikki Haley deserves a lot of credit for proposing making changes to the nation's Social Security Program. America has a spending and national debt problem that in the foreseeable future that is not to say it won't happen in a generation or two maximally will cause a collapse of America's economy and an indefinite dramatic deprivation of prosperity in America. House Republicans know this and after the past mid-term elections were calling for entitlement reform but after President Biden who drew from his fifty years of experience working in the Washington swamp painted the Republicans as seeking to take away the Social Security safety net from seniors the Republican House caucus backed down revealing the lack of courage amongst a lot of Republicans holding office in Congress!
I think Nikki Haley's policy plan lacks some wisdom but its deserves praise for seeking the Social Security problem be addressed. It probably isn't the best to raise the full retirement age above 67 the current age although if I was in Congress and a good SS reform bill was up for a vote and the full retirement age was going to be raised by only one year to sixty eight I would vote in favor of the bill. The test on full retirement age should at what age does the vast majority of Americans begin to loose their health where in fairness they deserve to be able to retire, my experience indicates 67 years of age is a fair determination, if widespread people think the number is sixty-eight that is reasonable and fair.
The one area I think Social Security could improve their finances is upping the age a recipient can begin seeking benefits! Today that age is sixty-two, although upping the age doesn't decrease the total financial outlay for the SS program over the life of the average recipient because if a recipient files for early benefits he or she will receive lower monthly benefits over their life. But what it will do and this is critical is that raising the early age to claim benefits for receiving benefits will keep these older Americans in the workforce working and earning wages and so therefore paying the 12.4 % Social Security tax in effect increasing the revenue flowing into SS coffers and thus providing more money available in SS to pay benefits! Prudence calls for raising the early retirement age to sixty-five, the same age Medicare benefits begin; the challenge that poses is that many older American's lose their health before the age of sixty five and cannot do their job especially people that have a profession involving physical labor. The answer is to allow these people to qualify for early benefits at age sixty-two as long as they can establish that they have this legitimate medical need, a licensed medical doctors written medical opinion that due to their physical health they cannot do their job in their chosen profession will ordinarily suffice. This carve out is for humanitarian reasons and the Social Security program cannot afford to establish a big program to police this carve out from people gaming the system because that will undermine the purpose of raising the early retirement age to improve the SS program's finances and so to cut down this gaming of the system the carve out would only be eligible to lower and lower middle income Americans that being those whose one fortieth of the amount of their retirement savings and non-retirement savings accounts and their yearly pension if they have such doesn't exceed $75,000 per year for individuals and $150,000 for a married couple. Also, prudence calls for putting a very small thumbnail auditing system in place (audit like one in five hundred claims) to check if the medical reason claim is legitimate when the SS program challenges a claim treat it as a Social Security disability claim give the person the same appeal rights; again to deter people gaming the system claiming they cannot work for health reasons when they can!
Nikki Haley's policy idea to cut benefits in SS for the wealthy is spot on prudence but if the Republicans agree to such a big change they should get in turn a reform of the Social Secuity Disability Program. Specifically, in the area of mental disability much has been written and spoken about the illegitimacy of many such granted claims. Many mentally disabled people certified by SS as disabled can work a reasonable person would conclude granted it would be a menial job that wouldn't provide much above minimum wage if a higher amount at all not really a livable wage. Maybe for such mentally disable people have a special benefit lower than the ordinary benefit factoring in there is jobs these people could do!
I think Nikki Haley's policy plan lacks some wisdom but its deserves praise for seeking the Social Security problem be addressed. It probably isn't the best to raise the full retirement age above 67 the current age although if I was in Congress and a good SS reform bill was up for a vote and the full retirement age was going to be raised by only one year to sixty eight I would vote in favor of the bill. The test on full retirement age should at what age does the vast majority of Americans begin to loose their health where in fairness they deserve to be able to retire, my experience indicates 67 years of age is a fair determination, if widespread people think the number is sixty-eight that is reasonable and fair.
The one area I think Social Security could improve their finances is upping the age a recipient can begin seeking benefits! Today that age is sixty-two, although upping the age doesn't decrease the total financial outlay for the SS program over the life of the average recipient because if a recipient files for early benefits he or she will receive lower monthly benefits over their life. But what it will do and this is critical is that raising the early age to claim benefits for receiving benefits will keep these older Americans in the workforce working and earning wages and so therefore paying the 12.4 % Social Security tax in effect increasing the revenue flowing into SS coffers and thus providing more money available in SS to pay benefits! Prudence calls for raising the early retirement age to sixty-five, the same age Medicare benefits begin; the challenge that poses is that many older American's lose their health before the age of sixty five and cannot do their job especially people that have a profession involving physical labor. The answer is to allow these people to qualify for early benefits at age sixty-two as long as they can establish that they have this legitimate medical need, a licensed medical doctors written medical opinion that due to their physical health they cannot do their job in their chosen profession will ordinarily suffice. This carve out is for humanitarian reasons and the Social Security program cannot afford to establish a big program to police this carve out from people gaming the system because that will undermine the purpose of raising the early retirement age to improve the SS program's finances and so to cut down this gaming of the system the carve out would only be eligible to lower and lower middle income Americans that being those whose one fortieth of the amount of their retirement savings and non-retirement savings accounts and their yearly pension if they have such doesn't exceed $75,000 per year for individuals and $150,000 for a married couple. Also, prudence calls for putting a very small thumbnail auditing system in place (audit like one in five hundred claims) to check if the medical reason claim is legitimate when the SS program challenges a claim treat it as a Social Security disability claim give the person the same appeal rights; again to deter people gaming the system claiming they cannot work for health reasons when they can!
Nikki Haley's policy idea to cut benefits in SS for the wealthy is spot on prudence but if the Republicans agree to such a big change they should get in turn a reform of the Social Secuity Disability Program. Specifically, in the area of mental disability much has been written and spoken about the illegitimacy of many such granted claims. Many mentally disabled people certified by SS as disabled can work a reasonable person would conclude granted it would be a menial job that wouldn't provide much above minimum wage if a higher amount at all not really a livable wage. Maybe for such mentally disable people have a special benefit lower than the ordinary benefit factoring in there is jobs these people could do!
