WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) participated in a fireside chat with AARP this morning to discuss the future of Social Security. America needs a bipartisan solution to save all Americans from a 24% cut in Social Security benefits in nine years. Cassidy outlined the “Big Idea” from his bipartisan Senate Social Security working group that will build a bridge to solvency and secure it for decades to come.
“Apparently if you are running for president, you have to deny there is a problem with Social Security. If you are running for president, you can’t tell people there is going to be a 24% benefit cut,” said Dr. Cassidy. “Doing nothing is endorsing a 24% cut for people currently receiving and for those who will receive in the future. That is the biggest issue.”
In addition to laying out the investment fund, separate from the Social Security Trust Fund, he listed numerous new provisions to create a stronger and fairer program. This includes a poverty alleviation provision and the repeal of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), Government Pension Offset (GPO), and Retirement Earnings Test (RET).
“We also have a poverty alleviation program in here in which the actuaries say this is the most powerful anti-poverty program for the elderly since Social Security was originally passed… We have things in here that make the program stronger as well as address the nation’s indebtedness,” continued Dr. Cassidy. “If this goes like the actuaries predict, we will evergreen which is to say that we never again worry about a Social Security shortfall.”
Rewatch the event here.
Background
Cassidy is leading a bipartisan working group with U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) to preserve and protect Social Security.
This spring, he released the inaugural Bill on the Hill video where he asked Capitol Hill visitors from across the country their thoughts on the looming 24% benefit cut to Social Security and presented his “Big Idea” to save, strengthen, and secure America’s retirement system.
At a Senate Finance Hearing in March, he questioned U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on the Biden administration’s lack of a plan to address Social Security at a Senate Finance hearing. He also delivered a speech on the Senate floor calling on President Biden to honor his pledge to protect Social Security and meet with a bipartisan group of senators discussing options to save the program.
Cassidy has outlined his Social Security plan in a fireside chat with the Bipartisan Policy Committee and authored an op-ed in the National Review.
In March, the Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds moved up the Social Security insolvency deadline a full year. One month prior, the Congressional Budget Office updated its estimates saying Social Security is heading toward a financial cliff in 2032. They found Medicare and Social Security spending rapidly outpacing federal tax revenues further hastening the insolvency deadlines.
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