Enyart defends Social Security

Source: The Telegraph, Alton, Ill.self storageAug. 29--ALTON -- In honor of Social Security's 78th year, an organization for retirees hosted a politician who historically has hailed the entitlement that helps support a vast number of America's seniors.U.S. Rep. Bill Enyart, D-Belleville, came to Senior Services Plus on Wednesday at the invitation of the Illinois Alliance for Retired Americans. Southern Illinois' co-chair of the group, Pat Peterman of Glen Carbon, arranged the congressman's visit."He has been such a strong supporter of maintaining Social Security at its current level and even sponsored a resolution against the chained CPI proposal, which isn't always a popular position for him to take," Peterman said Wednesday at Senior Services Plus' School House Grill cafe, where Enyart spoke to about 30 seniors.The "chained" Consumer Price Index (CPI) to which Peterman referred would cut Social Security benefits for seniors, Enyart said.The Consumer Price Index is a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for consumer goods and services. The economic concept of the "chained CPI" proposal essentially means that the Consumer Price Index would be hinged upon a "chained dollars" measure, instead of a "constant dollars" measure, to gauge average change, on which inflation is calculated and Social Security income based. A a chain index, or indicator, is an index number in which the value of any given period is related to the value of any immediately preceding period. The technique is so named because the second number in a pair of successive years becomes the first in the next pair. The result is a "chain" of weights and averages.Simply put, the proposal would measure inflation in closer increments than it does now; thus, some authorities think it would be a more accurate measure than an index based on a consumer spending average over a longer period of time -- for example, 10 years.The proposed change is estimated to lower the CPI by 0.3 percentage points each year, taking approximately $112 billion out of the pockets of current and near retirees in the next 10 years alone. A typical beneficiary -- with an annual income of roughly $20,000 -- will lose more than $2,000 of benefits over 10 years, according to an American Association of Retired Persons blog written by David Certner, legislative counsel and legislative policy director for government 迷你倉ffairs at AARP.Certner serves as counsel for AARP's legislative, regulatory and policy efforts at the federal and state levels, as well as for litigation opportunities before the courts.The theoretical advantage of using the chained-dollar measure is that it is more closely related to any given period covered and is therefore subject to less distortion over time. In an attempt to reduce the federal deficit, the federal government is considering changing the Consumer Price Index, but Enyart said Social Security has nothing to do with the federal deficit."Social Security and Medicare do not contribute to the deficit of the federal government," Enyart said Wednesday. "Cuts to these contribute nothing. If we do nothing to the system, 75 percent of the benefits due are going to be covered by the inflow to the system. Social Security is not going to go bankrupt; that's ludicrous."Once wage-earners make $110,000 a year or more, they no longer pay into Social Security; thus, Enyart said that if the U.S. government simply raised the amount of wages subject to Social Security taxes that it would solve the Social Security funding shortfall."The only increase would be for those making more than $110,000," Enyart said. "It would solve any funding issue for 75 years."He also strongly supports Medicare."Medicare is a much more efficient medical insurance program than any private medical insurance," he said.Last year, Medicare health care costs increased by 4.9 percent; private medical insurance costs increased 7.5 percent, he said."It's very sufficient management for health care; there's very little administrative costs," he said. "Medicare has saved the American senior population from poverty."At the end of the event, Peterman said that Enyart has done what he said he would do if elected."He doesn't always take the popular position; he's taking the right position," she said.Enyart and his chief of staff, Kevin Kern, took a tour of Senior Services Plus after the event. Both men praised the senior center. Many retirees are members of the center."We are Number Two in the state for Foster Grandparents and one of the largest providers of Meals On Wheels," Senior Services Plus marketing associate Kim Campbell said.jmoon@thetelegraph.comCopyright: ___ (c)2013 The Telegraph (Alton, Ill.) Visit The Telegraph (Alton, Ill.) at .thetelegraph.com Distributed by MCT Information Services文件倉