Capitol Costs

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Washington considers cutting budget on backs of senior citizens

Rightist members of Congress and others have long called for cutting social security or privatizing the public system that retirees need in the later years.

With the latest continuing resolution on government spending coming up for renewal early in the new year, Congress is again debating the budget, and social security will be part of the negotiations.

The average payout is only equal to $15,000, which comprises the vast majority of what most retirees live on.

According to a study by the Urban Institute, many people also end up drawing less in their retirement than they paid into it throughout their lives. That means social security would be solvent if it weren’t for administrations drawing on the fund for reasons other than ensuring Americans can live after they are done working.

Carmen Russell-Sluchansky spoke about the issues with Paul Buchheit, a college teacher in Chicago, founder and developer of social justice and educational websites such as UsAgainstGreed.org, PayUpNow.org, RappingHistory.org; and the editor and main author of “American Wars: Illusions and Realities.”

As put Buchheit put it: “Recent administrations – especially George Bush with his two wars and with tax cuts for the rich – dipped into the funds, taking the money that working Americans have put in for years and years, and now its missing.”

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Groups push SEC to require corporations to list political donations

After the public learned this week that the IRS targeted conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status, officials are now paying new attention to supposedly non-political groups engaging in political activities.

In the case of the IRS, the question is the tax status of so-called social welfare organizations designated as 501c4’s. But the Securities and Exchange Commission is now considering a petition that they force companies to disclose their political contributions.

During a three-hour hearing on Thursday, Republican lawmakers demanded that the SEC reject the petition. For its part, SEC officials have said it’s not currently being seriously considered, anyway, but a number of groups are renewing the call, including Public Citizen.

Host Carmen Russell-Sluchansky spoke with Lisa Gilbert, director of the Congressional Watch Division at Public Citizen, to discuss the petition.

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Social security’s long-term challenge remains revenue vs. payouts, expert says

Is Social Security solvent? If not, what can be done about it? What is chained CPI? Retirement assistance, be it Social Security and Medicare, remains a constant battle when Congress debates the budget.

Lately, social security has made the news quite a bit as various budget proposals have varied on how they would answer those very questions.

In his latest budget proposal, President Obama included the adoption of chained-CPI to calculate future social security needs and payouts to retirees. The budget the Senate passed did not. The Republican budget that Paul Ryan issued didn’t, but included other cuts.

Host Carmen Russell-Sluchansky spoke with Mark Rom, director of the Master’s Program in American Government at Georgetown University, and Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security, to discuss the state of social security.