Bob Kerrey on Social Security Former Democratic Senator (NE)

Raise retirement age & income cap

A: [Kerrey's] proposal aims to shore up Social Security's finances for at least the next 75 years, notably by:

• Raising the maximum amount of income subject to the payroll tax that funds the program.
• Delaying when younger workers could draw full benefits.
• Eligibility for full benefits would gradually be raised, reaching age 69 in 2074.
• For most retirees it's now 67. Slowing the cost-of-living adjustments made to Social Security benefits each year.
• And slowing future benefit growth for high earners.

Voted NO on Social Security Lockbox & limiting national debt.

Voted NO on allowing Roth IRAs for retirees.

Voted NO on allowing personal retirement accounts.

Voted NO on deducting Social Security payments on income taxes.

Create Retirement Savings Accounts.

Balance America’s Commitments to the Young and the Old
An ever-growing share of the federal budget today consists of automatic transfers from working Americans to retirees. Moreover, the costs of the big entitlements for the elderly -- Social Security and Medicare -- are growing at rates that will eventually bankrupt them and that could leave little to pay for everything else government does. We can’t just spend our way out of the problem; we must find a way to contain future costs. The federal government already spends seven times as much on the elderly as it does on children. To allow that ratio to grow even more imbalanced would be grossly unfair to today’s workers and future generations. In addition, Social Security and Medicare need to be modernized to reflect conditions not envisioned when they were created in the 1930s and the 1960s. Social Security, for example, needs a stronger basic benefit to bolster its critical role in reducing poverty in old age. Medicare needs to offer retirees more choices and a modern benefit package that includes prescription drugs. Such changes, however, will only add to the cost of the programs unless they are accompanied by structural reforms that restrain their growth and limit their claim on the working families whose taxes support the programs.

Goals for 2010
• Honor our commitment to seniors by ensuring the future solvency of Social Security and Medicare.
• Make structural reforms in Social Security and Medicare that slow their future cost growth, modernize benefits (including a prescription drug benefit for Medicare), and give beneficiaries more choice and control over their retirement and health security.
• Create Retirement Savings Accounts to enable low-income Americans to save for their own retirement.