Social Security

Playing Chicken Over Social Security's Future

By now it should be obvious to everyone, including Congress, that it is not possible to adhere to the budget limits (caps) on discretionary spending and pass realistic spending bills for FY 2000, at least not without resorting to accounting gimmicks and trickery. Sticking to the caps means drastic and politically unfeasible cuts. This should be good news for advocates who have been arguing all along that staying within the budget caps would severely slash important spending needs, including education, health, environmental protection, housing, and a score of other beneficial programs, especially those upon which low to mid-income Americans depend.

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Bumping Our Heads Against the Debt Ceiling

On June 28, the day Congress is planning to leave for the July 4 recess, Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill has warned that the government will run out of money to pay its bills unless Congress increases the limit on how much the Treasury can borrow. This means parts of government, if not all of it, will no longer properly function, and government will default on its bills. This has been publicly described as a showdown between the Bush administration and Congress, but in fact it is really a showdown between Bush and the Republicans in the House.

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A Resounding "No" to Estate Tax Repeal

On June 12, the Senate rejected a proposal by Sen. Phil Gramm (R-TX) to make repeal of the estate tax, which under current law only expires for only one year, in 2010, permanent. Repeal advocates needed 60 votes to send the House-passed estate tax repeal bill on to the President for his signature, but only received 54 votes -- 44 Senators, including 2 Republicans, voted against repeal. This is even fewer votes than repeal proponents received in February on a non-binding .

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Budget Process, October 1, And Tax Cuts

With the expiration of key Senate budget rules on October 1, tax cuts will get easier to pass.

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Trustees Issue 2002 Annual Report on the State of Social Security

Last week, the Social Security Board of Trustees issued its 2002 Annual Report on the status of Social Security’s finances, in which it extended its estimates of the number of years before Social Security’s surpluses will reach certain key milemarkers.

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Using Social Security's Surplus for Current Needs

Policy adjustments to Social Security – and not locking these surplus funds away – are the key to "saving" Social Security.

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Social Security's Double Security

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND), in commenting on the current federal budget debate, observed that, "the real test for this Congress is whether or not we're going to face up to our long-term challenges." The Chairman is absolutely right in directing the country to examine the long-term impact of its policy makers' budget decisions. Before we can be prepared to deal with our long-term domestic challenges, however, we must correctly identify just what these challenges are.

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House Budget Committee "Balanced" Budget Resolution for FY 2003

The budget resolution that the House Budget Committee marked up and passed by a party line vote (23-18) on March 13, is expected to head to the Floor for debate this week. The budget resolution is not a law, but is a broad outline for spending and tax cuts for FY 2003, which begins on October 1, 2002 and runs through September 31, 2003.

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