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March 10, 2023 at 04:17 PM
One again, lawmakers in Congress have turned their attention to options designed to save the Social Security system from insolvency. Nearly all of these proposals focus on ways to reduce the amount of Social Security benefits that taxpayers are entitled to receive once they reach retirement age.
Some of these ideas focus on increasing the age at which taxpayers can claim full retirement benefits, while others focus on reducing the amount of money taxpayers receive in their Social Security checks.
As an alternative, some commentators have suggested cutting the tax benefits associated with defined contribution plans, defined benefit plans and IRAs, and using the added tax revenue to shore up the Social Security system.
We asked two professors and authors of ALM’s Tax Facts with opposing political viewpoints to share their opinions with respect to cutting other retirement benefits as an alternative to cutting Social Security benefits.
Below is a summary of the debate that ensued between the two professors.
Their Votes:
Bloink
Byrnes
Their Reasons:
Bloink: When we worry about Social Security running out of money, we almost always talk about cutting Social Security benefits as a solution to the problem. In reality, the government-subsidized old-age benefit system in this country includes much more than just Social Security. We must begin to acknowledge this when we’re talking about ways to fix the Social Security system.
