Rodriguez for Congress campaign
Social Security
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[September 30, 2016]
Social Security has infamously been
described by some as “the third rail of American politics,” implying
that it is a potentially deadly issue that politicians should broach
with extreme caution or not at all. As such, it has been famously
ignored during a generation of congressional do-nothingism because
the concern of perpetuating careers by many is greater than their
willingness to tackle an issue that is laden with controversy. Since
we know that the Social Security Trust Fund will become insolvent
down the line unless we find the courage to act now, it is
imperative that the next Congress begins the challenging work of
guaranteeing the life of Social Security for future generations.
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 I believe that the U.S. Congress should begin the
process in 2017 of raising the retirement age from 67 to 70 within a
decade. This can be achieved by incrementally raising the retirement
age and the clear expression of the timetable can allow for those
who are approaching the age of retirement to plan accordingly and
determine the point at which they would choose to retire. Americans
experience a longer life-expectancy today than they did when
retirement cohorts were originally set, and pushing the retirement
age back ever so slightly does contribute to the greater life of the
Social Security Trust Fund.
Today, regardless of the salary that one might earn, no worker in
the U.S. pays FICA taxes (for Social Security and Medicare) on any
salary above $122,000. I would propose that the upper limit of this
be raised to a $200,000 cap over the next decade. This too will
provide additional revenue that will extend the life of Social
Security well into the future. Although some will object to this
proposal, we must inculcate a sense of inter-generational
responsibility here. We are supporting our parents and grandparents
generation with the assurance that our own age cohort will be
treated equitably in due course.
 A multi-faceted approach to Social Security reform must include
implementation of a means-testing system for the most wealthy among
us. Those individuals among the millionaire class who do not need to
receive monthly Social Security checks in order to make ends meet
should not be receiving them. Any use of means testing must be
indexed to inflation on a regular basis so that no one is unfairly
penalized by this system; individuals who fell below the means
testing threshold would again be eligible for benefits. This reform
will also add life to the Social Security Trust Fund. [to
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 The U.S. Congress must also rise to the occasion and
prove itself to be fiscally responsible. It is critical that the
Congress makes it a priority to make Social Security a program that
is fully funded so that expenditures do not consistently outpace
revenues to fund it. Reform cannot simply be a stopgap measure
because that is essentially passing the problem on to future
generations.
Most importantly, we must keep in mind that the most effective means
of strengthening Social Security for years to come is the creation
of good jobs at good wages in the coming decade. We should set as a
target the creation of at least 25 million new jobs in the coming
decade and work to ensure that these are jobs that provide living
wages and beyond to a new generation of American workers.
Individuals who are working at good jobs with good wages will have
the ability to save money—something that is all too often an
unavailable luxury to many who today work from paycheck-to-paycheck.
We must also do as much as we can to incentivize savings in the
rising generation of American workers—not as a means of moving
toward privatization of Social Security, but as a means of
encouraging savings to supplement future Social Security payments. [Text from file received] Past related
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