Republicans Take Aim at Social Security

March 11, 2011

Republican legislators in both the U.S. House and Senate have now started moving toward cutting Social Security. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has announced that he wants to offer a budget that will curb Social Security spending. On the Senate side, three Republican senators, Lindsey Graham (SC), Mike Lee (UT), and Rand Paul (KY) announced they intend to introduce legislation that will raise the retirement age and "means test" benefits by providing lower benefits to individuals with higher incomes.

In addition, Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) has introduced specific legislation to increase the retirement age over time to 70, with the first increase to 67 starting in 2023 for individuals who are now 55 or younger.

Key Senate Democrats and administration officials have stated clearly that Social Security does not contribute to the deficit and should not be part of any deficit reduction package that emerges in the next few months. A caucus formed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) now has 16 members, and some House Democrats have introduced legislation to address the program’s long term solvency by raising the cap on wages subject to the Social Security tax and to improve the program’s benefit index.

AFSCME is an active member of a broad-based coalition that has been lobbying both Congress and the administration to protect Social Security from benefit cuts.