Bill Resnick talks with Max Richtman, president of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare , who clarifies that Social Security is an earned benefit, and the program is not broke or breaking. The current program can continue paying full benefits for twenty years; and with a slight adjustment of the payroll cap, it can continue long after that. (Currently, only the first $113,000 of income is taxed, no matter whether someone's total income is $113,000 or $113,000,000). Half of all Social Security beneficiaries rely on the program for 90 % of their income, though the average benefit is only about $13,000 per year. Bill and Max discuss how chained CPI would reduce benefits. Richtman argues that Social Security needs to be expanded and the benefits increased.
- KBOO