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Created: Thu Jul 31 09:18:17 2008
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Key Questions
VOTERS SHOULD ASK CANDIDATES ABOUT THE
BUDGET AND OUR NATION'S FISCAL FUTURE
THE CONCORD
COALITION
1011 Arlington Blvd., Ste. 300 ! Arlington, VA 22209
Tel: (703) 894-6222 ! Fax: (703) 894-6231
www.concordcoalition.org
Executive Director: Robert L. Bixby
National Field Director: A. Harry Zeeve
A Fiscal Wake-Up Call America's Population is Aging
Population Age 65 and Over
Our nation is undergoing an unprecedented demographic transformation 25%
Percentage of Pupulation
against the backdrop of rising health care costs and falling national 20%
Aged 65 or Over
savings. It is a dangerous combination for the future health of the
economy. 15%
The baby boomers' retirement, starting in 2008, will usher in a permanent 10%
shift to an older population -- and a permanent rise in the cost of 5%
programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, which already
comprise 42 percent of the federal budget. 0%
2007 2012 2017 2022 2027 2032 2037 2042 2047
There is no plan to pay for it all other than running up the national debt. Fiscal Year
Some say that our political system only responds to a crisis. If that turns Source: Social Security and Medicare Trustees' Report, April 2007
out to be true, we're in big trouble. Demographic change, however, is only part of the problem. For the past 40
years health care spending has consistently grown faster than the economy.
If the same growth rate continues over the next 40 years, Medicare and
Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid as a
Medicaid will represent nearly as much of our nation's economy as the
Percentage of the Federal Budget entire federal budget does today.
Projected Health Care Costs
Social Security, Medicare
All other Federal and Medicaid 25%
Spending $1.14 Trillion
Percentage of GDP
$1.6 Trillion 20%
Federal Spending
42% 15%
(Historical Average)
58%
Projected Health Care Costs
10%
Based on Historical Average
5% Over Past 40 Years
0%
Source: Congressional Budget Office, 2008
2007 2012 2017 2022 2027 2032 2037 2042 2047
Fiscal Year
Over the next 25 years, the number of Americans aged 65 and up is Source: Congressional Budget Office, 2008
expected to nearly double, growing from 12 percent of the population
to 20 percent. The working age population will grow by only 10 percent No one can say when a crisis will hit, but by the time it does the economy
over this time. As a result, the ratio of workers paying into Social Security will likely be burdened with a debilitating amount of debt; leaving painful
and Medicare relative to the number of beneficiaries will fall by roughly benefit cuts and steep tax increases as the only options. Doing nothing
one-third. to avoid this would be an act of fiscal and generational irresponsibility.
Key Questions
Voters Should Ask Candidates About the Budget and Share of Publicly-Held Debt Owned by Foreigners
Our Nation's Fiscal Future 50%
The following questions provide a framework for ensuring that candi-
Percentage of Publicly-Held Debt
dates address some of the toughest choices they will face concerning 40%
the federal budget if they are elected. Background information is given
to provide context and to help with follow-up questions, which should 30%
be asked whenever you believe that you have not been given a com-
plete answer.
20%
Do you believe that budget deficits matter?
10%
If deficits don't matter then there is no reason for politicians and the
public to worry about them. After all, most people would like to have
more government services with lower taxes. That is why politicians 0%
often sound like Santa Claus. While many are tempted to downplay the 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07
Fiscal Year
importance of deficits in election years, it is a dangerous game. Like
being drawn into an addiction, deficits are easy to acquire and hard to Source: Office of Management and Budget, Analytical Perspectives, FY 2009
get rid of.
It also means that more interest payments on the national debt go to bond
To be clear, no single year's deficit will harm the economy. It is the accu-
holders from abroad -- draining financial resources away from the U.S
mulation of large deficits, year after year, that burdens taxpayers and un-
economy. This acts as a growing mortgage on future national income.
dermines future living standards. It does so by soaking up national savings
and crowding out productive investment. It also puts upward pressure on
Beyond fiscal imbalance, today's budget policies threaten to place ever-
interest rates, reduces fiscal flexibility to deal with emergencies, and raises
tighter constraints on the ability of future citizens to determine their own
the cost of interest payments on the national debt. Last year, the govern-
fiscal priorities. The United States would be in a stronger position to weather
ment spent $238 billion on interest payments -- nine percent of the budget
difficult times, address emerging national needs and invest in future eco-
and roughly twice as much as was spent on military and reconstruction
nomic growth if it had greater flexibility and strength in its fiscal position.
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Do you believe that either Congress or the President has a realistic
Government borrowing to finance budget deficits leaves less money for the
plan to balance the budget? If not, what would you do differently?
building blocks of our economic future -- research and development, in-
vesting in plants and equipment, transportation infrastructure, educating our
There is at least one positive thing to report on the budget front: 2007 marked
children and training our workers. Borrowing from abroad is an alternative,
the third straight year that the deficit declined (from over $413 billion to
and in fact the portion of our debt held by foreign investors has risen dra-
$163 billion.) This does not mean, however, that we are on a smooth and
matically since 2001 from roughly 30 percent to nearly 50 percent. How-
easy road back to balanced budgets. Both the Congressional Budget Office
ever, such reliance increases the budget's exposure to international capital
markets and decisions made by foreign interests.
(CBO) and the President's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Current Policy Trends Lead to Large Sustained Deficits
expect that the deficit will exceed $400 billion this year.
$400
President Bush and the Democratic leaders of Congress share the goal $200
Billions of Dollars
of balancing the budget by 2012, but there is reason to be skeptical that
$0
they are prepared to make the necessary trade-offs required to achieve
-$200
that goal. Both rely on optimistic assumptions.
-$400
On the spending side, both plans understate likely costs of operations in Iraq -$600
and Afghanistan. Through 2007, Congress has approved more than $600 -$800
billion for these efforts. The President has asked for another $197 billion in -$1,000
2008. Beyond that time, his budget simply contains $70 billion for 2009 and -$1,200
nothing thereafter. The Congressional budget plan also incorporates this 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
assumption. Fiscal Year
CBO January 2008 Baseline
Concord Plausible Baseline assumes: appropriations grow with the economy;
Both plans also assume that regular appropriations for everything else continued operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are gradually scaled back to a
the government does will grow more slowly than they have in recent third of the current level; and all expiring tax provisions are extended.
years. In fact, the President essentially assumes a five-year freeze on
non-security appropriations. Congress assumes a modest increase in Source: Congressional Budget Office and Concord Coalition Analysis, Feb. 2008
the next few years but far less than recent trends. Such fiscal austerity is
Under that scenario, there would be a deficit of $485 billion in 2012 rather
much harder to achieve in practice than it is in theory.
than a small surplus. The cumulative deficit over the next 10 years would
total $6.4 trillion. These deficits would drain national savings, raise the debt
On the revenue, side both plans assume an unlikely windfall of roughly
to GDP ratio and increase interest costs at the very time when we should
$300 billion over five years from the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).
be doing the opposite in preparation for the fiscal challenges that loom in the
The AMT was orginally intended to prevent the very wealthy from
following decades as demographics and health care costs run up projected
avoiding taxation. However, it is not indexed for inflation and if not
spending.
adjusted will apply to roughly eight times as many taxpayers by 2010
as it does today in effect becoming a backdoor tax increase taking
Each annual deficit adds to the total national debt. The government's
away benefits of the recent tax cuts.
debt held by its outside creditors (debt held by the public) is currently
36 percent of GDP. Under the scenario outlined above, debt held by the
Based on experience, a more plausible outlook than these budget plans
public would reach 48 percent of GDP by 2017 and heading sharply
would assume:
higher. The last time that debt held by the public was over 50 percent of
GDP was in the 1950s. At that time, however, debt was coming down
· a phase-down, but not phase-out, of funding for Iraq and Afghanistan. from the heights it achieved to pay for World War II.
· that regular appropriations grow at the same rate as the economy.
· that all expiring tax cuts are extended. One strategy for improving the near-term budget outlook would be to
· continuing relief from the AMT by adjusting it for inflation. identify savings from wasteful and unnecessary programs, improve
· debt service cost on the above changes due to added borrowing. efficiency and eliminate narrowly targeted tax breaks that add to the
complexity of the tax code without producing any meaningful economic Last year, Congress took a positive step to bring back PAYGO budgeting
benefit. Such political "pork" diverts resources from more pressing by enacting parliamentary rules, but stopped short of writing these rules into
national needs and increases public cynicism about the fairness of the law. Congress thus gave itself a mechanism that could be waived by a
federal budget process. majority vote in the House and 60 votes in the Senate. Statutory PAYGO
would put additional teeth into the PAYGO rule by establishing a mechanism
Similarly, there is the potential for increased revenues by pursuing that could not be so easily overridden. It would also restore the
strategies to close the so-called "tax gap" -- the difference between "sequestration" process which required an across the board cut to make up
taxes that are owed and the revenues that are actually collected. The for any violation of the caps or PAYGO law.
Internal Revenue Service estimates that the tax gap is about $300 billion.
Some PAYGO proposals would exempt tax cuts. However, the com-
However, such seemingly painless options will not be nearly enough to get mon sense way to restore fiscal discipline is to apply budget rules to all
the job done. A serious effort to address the deficit will require policymakers legislation that would increase the deficit. Since spending and tax deci-
to tackle the underlying structural problems resulting from existing entitlement sions both have consequences for the budget, there is no good reason to
and tax laws. exempt either from enforcement rules. Moreover, exempting tax cuts
from PAYGO would encourage an expansion of so-called `tax entitle-
The CBO has warned, "as the percentage of the population age 65 and ments' where benefits are funneled through the tax code rather than by
older continues to increase, spending for Medicare, Medicaid, and Social direct spending. In addition, exempting tax cuts from PAYGO rules
Security will, under current law, exert such pressure on the federal budget would encourage the false notion that debt is a painless alternative to
as to make the current path of fiscal policy unsustainable. As a result, taxation.
CBO concludes, "substantial changes in federal spending and tax policies
will be necessary to maintain fiscal stability." What specific spending cuts would you propose to help balance the
budget?
Do you support budget enforcement laws such as caps on annual ap-
propriations and a pay-as-you-go requirement for tax cuts and en- Politicians often talk tough on spending without mentioning what pro-
titlement expansions? grams they would cut. This is a convenient way to avoid making hard
choices. Evaluating how serious a candidate is about spending restraint
Although budget rules alone will never be able to solve the nation's requires some perspective on the dimensions of the problem.
fiscal problems, enforcement mechanisms can bring greater account-
ability to the budget process and help provide Members of Congress If Congress had been required to balance the budget last year without
with the political backbone to make the tough choices necessary to re- raising taxes, it would have had to enact a 10 percent cut in all federal
duce the deficit. Pay-as-you-go rules (PAYGO) for all tax and entitle- programs not an easy task. But if Social Security, Medicare and
ment legislation and spending caps for appropriations are proven tools Medicaid were exempted, the cut would have been nearly 20 percent. If
for fiscal discipline. These enforcement laws were an important part of national security programs were also exempted the cut to all other pro-
bringing the budget back into balance from 1998 through 2001. They grams would have been over 30 percent. These numbers demonstrate
were allowed to expire in 2002, just as the budget was slipping back that exempting popular programs from fiscal scrutiny is not a viable
into deficit. strategy for balancing the budget and that simply cracking down on
everyone's favorite target, "waste, fraud and abuse," is not enough to
get the job done.
Composition of the Actual FY 2007 Federal Budget
The tax cuts passed since 2001 are set to expire by 2011. Do you sup-
$3.0
port extension of the expiring tax cuts and, if so, how would you ad-
Total Revenue
dress the budgetary implications?
$2.5
Non-Defense Since January 2001, Congress has enacted four tax cut packages with
"sunsets" that cause most of them to expire at the end of 2010. Circum-
In Trillions of Dollars
$2.0 Defense stances have changed dramatically since the bulk of these tax cuts were
enacted. The surplus era has been replaced by deficits, and the budget
Interest faces new demands for the war on terrorism and homeland security. In
$1.5
light of this, it makes sense to reassess whether we can afford to con-
Social Security
tinue all of the tax cuts enacted in the surplus era.
$1.0 Medicare
Medicaid New legislation is required to extend the tax cuts. The Congressional
& Other Budget Office projects that extending all of them would cost $3.4 tril-
$0.5 Entitlements lion over the next 10 years. This will present tough choices for Con-
gress and the President. To avoid a significant increase in the debt, they
will either have to make substantial spending cuts or raise other rev-
$0
enues. Among the most prominent provisions set to expire are the re-
Non-Defense Appropriations duction of income tax rates, the capital gains rate reduction, repeal of
in Billions:
the estate tax, and relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax.
Education: $80 Foreign Aid: $35
Transportation: $71 Veterans: $35
Income Security: $56 Community Dev.: $30 Some politicians argue that tax cuts do not increase the deficit because they
Health: $52 General Science: $26 pay for themselves through greater economic growth. This alluring claim is
Admin. of Justice: $41 Energy: $4 not supported by economic theory or actual experience. Economic growth
has not been unusually strong since the recent tax cuts were passed. In
fact, it has often fallen short of projections. Moreover, a Treasury Depart-
Source: Office of Management and Budget, FY 2009.
ment study in 2006 estimated that positive economic feedback from ex-
It is impossible to cut spending without cutting something that some- tending the tax cuts would offset roughly 10 percent of the revenue loss and
one wants in the budget. If everyone insists on only cutting someone then only if matched by spending cuts.
else's priorities, talk about deficit reduction will remain just that.
It is true that revenues are at "record" levels if inflation is ignored, but
Historically, the American people have been extraordinarily willing to adjusted for inflation 2007 revenues are roughly equal to 2000 rev-
sacrifice in order to better equip the nation for whatever challenges it enues. Setting a dollar record for revenues is not remarkable -- rev-
faced. During World War II and the Korean War, Presidents Roosevelt enues almost always set a record every year because they naturally in-
and Truman proposed major cuts in domestic spending while raising crease with inflation, economic growth and other factors. What is re-
taxes substantially. Very few political leaders ask for sacrifice now, even markable is that revenues did not set a record in the four years after the
in a time of war. We need to again make hard choices that will allow us tax cuts were passed in 2001. Between 2001 and 2003 revenues actu-
to confront challenges without passing all the costs to future genera- ally declined for three years in a row for the first time since the 1920s.
tions.
Spending versus Revenues with the rising number of beneficiaries. Unless health costs slow, by
2050, the cost of Medicare and Medicaid as a share of GDP will be
24% roughly the same as the entire federal budget today.
Percentage of GDP
22% Putting Medicare on a financially sustainable path will require some
combination of reductions in services, increased cost-sharing by
beneficiaries, increasing the eligibility age, bringing more revenues into
20% the system and improving the cost effectiveness of Medicare and the
Average Outlays
health care system overall.
18%
Here are some criteria for evaluating candidates' reform proposals:
Average Revenues
16% 1) Scope of benefits: Medicare should cover a level of care
1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 commensurate with the care available to working-age people. This does
Fiscal Year
not mean that taxpayers must be expected to finance a "high option"
Spending
insurance plan for all seniors.
Revenues
Source: Congressional Budget Office, Jan. 2008. 2) Fiscally responsible: A fiscally responsible program is one that can
reasonably be expected to operate within the resources available to
Measured as a share of the economy revenues are still substantially finance it. A program that assumes a perpetually open spigot from the
lower than before the tax cuts were enacted. Treasury is not fiscally responsible.
Taxes and spending cannot be considered in isolation from one another. 3) Income-related cost sharing: As a group, seniors enjoy a better
The revenues lost by extending the expiring tax provisions must be income and less poverty than other age groups, particularly children.
weighed against the fact that policymakers have not taken action to Therefore, Medicare's premiums, which help fund Parts B (physician
prepare for the costs of the baby boomers' retirement and health care care) and D (prescription drugs), should be geared to income levels.
needs which will begin to place a growing strain on the budget in the Currently, premiums cover only 25 percent of costs for Parts B and D.
years ahead. Ironically, the first baby boomers will qualify for Medi- General tax revenues cover the rest. Payroll taxes only cover Medicare
care and full Social Security retirement benefits at age 65 in 2011 -- Part A (hospital insurance). Given the large general revenue subsidy
the very year when the tax cuts are set to expire. and the need for long-term savings, beneficiaries who can afford to pay
more of their fair share should do so.
How do you propose to keep Medicare from overwhelming the fed- 4) Efficient provision of medical care: Whatever new system of
eral budget? medical insurance for the elderly is devised, it should contain incentives
for both providers and patients to use resources cost-effectively.
Medicare costs are projected to grow faster than the economy, and faster Treatments that have little or no promise of achieving any appreciable
than can be reasonably supported by the federal budget. Health care improvement in a patient's well-being should not be financed with
prices have outpaced overall economic growth since 1960. This taxpayer dollars.
phenomenon greatly compounds the growing fiscal problems associated
Medicare Income and Costs as a Percent of GDP comparative effectiveness of treatments and incentives for patients and
providers to use the results of such research in making decisions on the
15% best care.
Health benefit spending on the elderly will continue to grow far faster
Percentage of GDP
than the economy so long as we pretend that costs can be controlled
10% without any sacrifice. Costs aren't just rising because of inefficient or
wasteful medical services. They're rising because medical science can
do more for more people -- and because what it can do is often very
expensive. Ultimately our nation must decide what level of health care
5%
we wish to provide as an entitlement and how much we are willing to
pay for it. Americans have yet to confront this choice.
0% Putting Medicare on a fixed budget would be one way to compel trade-
2007 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060 2070 2080 offs. If program costs exceed targeted levels, Congress and the President
Fiscal Year would be required to take corrective action. If it is decided that program
costs should be permitted to increase, (for example, by filling the
Income from dedicated taxes, premiums, and state transfers prescription drug "donut hole" or adding long-term care coverage) then
General revenues required to fund program fiscal responsibility demands that an equal stream of revenue be
identified to pay for the higher expenses or savings be found elsewhere.
Source: Report of the Medicare Trustees, 2007
Ultimately, the growth in Medicare costs must be addressed through
Businesses run on "best practices." Medicare does not. Many studies fundamental health care reform. That is no reason, however, to avoid
have shown that comparable patients receive very different care -- at incremental steps that make sense on their own and that can achieve
very different costs -- depending on where they get care, because of substantial savings. Medicare is a leader in the health care system,
different styles of practice from one region to another, or even from one accounting for 20 percent of total spending. If the next President, with
hospital to another. Better targeting of recourses could lead to substantial the help of Congress, can agree on meaningful Medicare reforms, it
savings. Over one five-year study period, Medicare could have saved may well lead the way for necessary reforms of the broader health care
$1.7 billion in the Los Angeles area alone, if the resource-intense hospital system.
care there matched the pattern of care in lower cost areas of the state.
What steps would you take to close Social Security's long-term fund-
The most striking finding from these comparisons of costs among regions ing gap?
is that higher spending and more resource-intensive care does not
produce better patient outcomes. For policymakers, the key point is Over the next 30 years, Social Security will place a mounting burden
that there are choices in the way care is delivered and that the most on the budget and the economy. By 2035, the program's projected an-
expensive choice is not necessarily the best -- not for patients, and not nual cost of $1.4 trillion (adjusted for inflation) will equal 6.3 percent
for society. Any package of reforms should include greater attention to of GDP an increase of roughly 50 percent.
research on the
It is true that the Social Security trust fund shows a positive balance one-third or raising payroll taxes by one-half. Thus, the existence of trust
through 2040. However, trust fund solvency is a misleading measure of fund balances on paper does not change the fact that Social Security will
the program's long-term viability. Social Security cannot be viewed in place growing pressures on rest of the budget and future taxpayers as well
isolation from the overall federal budget. The trust fund is simply an as the economy as a whole.
accounting device keeping track of the program's claims on general
revenues with "assets" consisting of Treasury IOU's. It says nothing Candidates who promise to preserve benefits at the levels promised
about how society will meet the growing fiscal burden reflected in those under current law should explain where the money will come from to
trust fund balances. The key point is that the trust fund assets are also fund these promises. Likewise, candidates who promise to oppose any
promises to spend future tax dollars. tax increases should explain what changes they would make to restrain
the growth of Social Security costs to stay within current tax levels.
What matters fiscally and economically is Social Security's cash balance--
that is, the annual difference between outlays and earmarked tax revenues. Taxation Options:
Social Security will begin running annual cash deficits in 2017. Between
2017 and 2040 the U.S. Treasury will have to come up with more than $4.2 One often mentioned proposal is to make more of the earnings of higher
trillion in today's dollars to redeem the bonds in the trust fund. In order to income workers taxable. Currently, the Social Security payroll tax (12.4
generate the cash to pay these IOU's, policymakers will need to cut spend- percent) is capped at $97,500 of wages. This option would bring in
ing on other programs, raise taxes, or borrow the money. And even then, more money, but as a means of assuring the sustainability of Social
stemming the cash hemorrhage would ultimately require cutting benefits by Security, it would be considerably less effective than proponents allege.
It would only provide a few more years of positive cash flow to the
Promised Benefits Far Exceed Dedicated Taxes system and, unless the link between taxable earnings and benefits were
to be eliminated, it would add to the system's long-term cost by providing
higher benefits to those who need them the least.
20%
Raising taxes in some form would be more fiscally responsible than
Percentage of Taxable Payroll
18% unlimited borrowing. It may also be a necessary component in any plan
that is capable of winning broad bipartisan support. But before resorting
16% to this option, candidates must carefully weigh the magnitude of the
Cash Deficits looming demands that Social Security and health care entitlements will
14% place on the income of future workers and the economy overall. Levying
higher taxes to meet rising costs could hinder an economy that will also
have to cope with near stagnant workforce growth.
12%
Higher revenues today will not reduce Social Security's future burden
10% unless matched by a mechanism to ensure that the extra money gener-
2007 2015 2025 2035 2045 2055 2065 2075 2080 2085
Calendar Year ates increased personal savings and a larger future economy.
Dedicated Taxes Promised Benefits
Source: Report of Trustees of the Social Security Trust Fund, 2007
Personal Accounts: Raising the full benefit-eligibility age could help augment the labor
force by encouraging older people to remain at work for a few more
One way that higher Social Security contributions could generate new years.
savings would be if they were used to create personally owned accounts
within the Social Security system. This reform could provide a more Some proposals would raise the full-benefit age in the future. Others
reliable method of funding benefits because the money would be beyond would set up an automatic provision, referred to as "longevity indexing,"
the reach of government. In other words, they would provide a "lockbox" where the age to receive full benefits would increase automatically based
no politician could pick. on changes in longevity.
However, the money to establish personal accounts must come from Price indexing. Another option would be to index initial benefits to the
somewhere. To the extent that the source of funding is additional growth in prices for commonly used goods and services, as measured
government borrowing, no new savings for the economy will result, by the Consumer Price Index. This reform is simple and creates large
because the increase in government borrowing would cancel out the savings. According to the most recent estimate by the Social Security
"savings" in personal accounts. Moreover, personal accounts alone actuaries, moving to price indexing would more than close the program's
would not close the existing gap between dedicated revenues and projected gap.
promised benefits.
An alternative, called "progressive price indexing" would mitigate the
Cost saving options: effects of reform on low and moderately low-income workers by wage-
indexing benefits for the lowest third of benefits (as under current law),
Approximately 55 percent of the rise in Social Security's cost over the phasing in an element of price-indexing for the middle third, and fully
next 75 years is due to an increase in the number of beneficiaries and price-indexing benefits for the top third. According to the Social Security
improvements in life expectancy. The remaining 45 percent is due to a actuaries, this reform would close roughly 80 percent of the cash deficit
projected increase in the value of the benefits, which are indexed to by 2080. It would thus substantially improve the system's fiscal
wage gains rather than prices. Because wages tend to grow faster than sustainability while preserving all promised benefits for those who rely
prices over time, the "real" (inflation adjusted) value of benefits in- on them most.
creases for each new group of recipients. Two logical ideas to gradually
constrain cost growth would thus be to adjust eligibility for increasing Options such as these often produce allegations that proponents seek to
longevity or to index initial benefit levels to price increases rather than "cut benefits." However, voters should be wary of assertions about how
wage increases. Neither of these options would change benefits for cur- much reform plans would reduce benefits below the level promised
rent recipients. under current law. Current law promises more than it can afford to pay.
Finding a cure for what ails Social Security won't happen without sac-
Longevity adjustments. Raising the age at which retirees are eligible rifice a reality most lawmakers have not accepted. But "painless"
for full benefits (now 66 and scheduled to go up to 67 by 2025) is solutions that don't ask anyone to accept less or pay more will neither
logical for several reasons: 1) longevity is increasing steadily, and longer reduce the long-term cost of the program, nor contribute to a larger
life spans mean longer, and more costly, lifetime benefits; 2) older economy so that the remaining costs will be more affordable.
Americans are generally healthier than in the past and can work more
years, especially as jobs have become less physically demanding; and
3) in coming decades, the pool of working-age Americans will virtually
stop growing, depriving our nation of this engine of economic growth.
ABOUT THE CONCORD COALITION
The Concord Coalition is co-chaired by former U.S. Senators Warren B.
Rudman (R-NH) and Bob Kerrey (D-NE). Former Secretary of Commerce
Peter G. Peterson serves as President. The Concord Coalition was founded in
1992 by Rudman, Peterson and the late Senator Paul E. Tsongas (D-MA).
CONTACT THE CONCORD COALITION
Midwest Region
Sara Imhof: simhof@concordcoalition.org
Northeast Region
Chrissy Hovde: chovde@concordcoalition.org
Southern Region
Phil Smith: psmith@concordcoalition.org
Southwest Region
Jeff Thiebert: jthiebert@concordcoalition.org
Western Region
Janet Ryan: jryan@concordcoalition.org
National Office
E-mail: concord@concordcoalition.org
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