Social Security

Democrats, Republicans, and Social Security

by Laurence M. Vance January 5, 2024

Social Security recipients received a 3.2 percent increase in their benefits at the beginning of this year thanks to Social Security’s annual cost of living adjustment (COLA). President Biden and his fellow Democrats, and even many conservatives, want them to receive even more money from the U.S. treasury. . Since 1975, Social Security beneficiaries have received cost-of-living ...

Trump’s Big Lie about Medicare and Social Security

by Laurence M. Vance February 21, 2023

In a recent brief video message to his supporters, former president and current 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump warned Republicans about cutting Medicare or Social Security: Under no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from Medicare or Social Security to help pay for Joe Biden’s reckless spending spree. . . . Do not cut ...

The Arbitrary Nature of Social Security Benefits

by Laurence M. Vance November 2, 2022

Social Security benefits will soon be increasing, as they do almost every year, but Social Security taxes will not be increasing, as they haven’t for over 30 years. This shows once again the arbitrary nature of Social Security (OASDI) benefits. The Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) part of Social Security provides monthly benefits to retired workers, families of retired workers, ...

Your Social Security Increase Just Might Be Taxed Away

by Laurence M. Vance March 23, 2022

Social Security recipients got a nice benefit increase this year, but according to a report by The Senior Citizens League (TSCL), “Almost half of all households that receive Social Security benefits might pay taxes this year on a portion of their benefits.” This raise and the possible reduction in benefits reveals the true nature of Social ...

Trust Funds: Real and Imaginary

by Laurence M. Vance December 3, 2021

It is interesting that the basic framework of the U.S. unemployment compensation program was first established in the Social Security Act of 1935. Although both programs have trust funds, one is real, and one is imaginary. Due to the COVID-19 “pandemic,” state unemployment programs were stretched to the limit in 2020 and into 2021. Let me briefly explain how these ...

Congress Doesn’t Need to Bail Out Social Security

by Laurence M. Vance October 4, 2021

The Social Security Board of Trustees has released its annual report on the long-term financial status of the Social Security Trust Funds, and it is not looking good. There are actually two parts to Social Security (OASDI). The Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) program provides monthly benefits to retired workers, families of retired workers, and survivors of deceased workers. ...

Another Conservative Social Security Reform Plan

by Laurence M. Vance December 15, 2020

Just reading the title is enough to make a libertarian cringe. “How Social Security Reform Could Make a Popular Federal Program Better,” by Rachel Greszler and Ilana Blumsack, was published last month by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that, for almost fifty years, claims to have “advanced the principles of free enterprise, limited government, ...

Should Social Security Be Expanded?

by Laurence M. Vance July 1, 2020

Time is running out for Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security. The Constitution, in Article I, Section 4, mandates that Congress assemble “at least once in every Year.” Each Congress is numbered and lasts two years, with two legislative sessions. The current Congress is the 116th to assemble since the ...

Should Social Security Benefits Be Means-Tested?

by Laurence M. Vance May 4, 2020

The United States may be the “land of the free and the home of the brave,” the “sweet land of liberty,” the “land of the noble free,” and a “city on a hill,” but it is, unfortunately, also a vast welfare state. Indeed, as has been pointed out by economist Walter Williams of George Mason ...

Australia and New Zealand Show the True Nature of Social Security

by Laurence M. Vance January 7, 2020

Writing at the Christian Post in “Will Social Security Go Broke?” Christian financial advisor Chuck Bentley recently answered a question about Social Security from a “Worried Millennial”: I’m a recent college graduate with my first “real” job. With that comes paying into the Social Security System. My concern is whether or not there will be funds ...

Senator Warren’s Plan Shows the True Nature of Social Security

by Laurence M. Vance September 26, 2019

Sen. Elizabeth Warren has a plan. Although her plan is about expanding Social Security, it is a strange coincidence that she released her plan on the very day she would be appearing onstage at a Democratic presidential debate alongside two other Democratic candidates near the top of the pack: the former vice president and senator Joe Biden and the ...

Privatizing Coercion

by Laurence M. Vance November 12, 2018

Every day, roughly 10,000 baby boomers do the same thing: they retire. And when they retire, the first thing they generally do is apply for Social Security. There are actually two parts to Social Security (OASDI). The Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) program provides monthly benefits to retired workers, families of retired workers, and survivors of deceased workers. The Disability Insurance ...