Social Welfare Law Commons^™

The Future Of Social Security: Principles To Guide Reform, Kathryn L. Moore

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

On February 12, 2008, the nation's first Baby Boomer, Kathleen Casey-Kirschling, was the first of her generation to receive a Social Security retirement benefit. Born one second after midnight on January 1, 1946, Ms. Casey-Kirschling was born just eleven years after the Social Security system was originally enacted, nine years after the first Social Security payroll taxes were collected, and six years after the system first began to pay monthly retirement benefits.

"As the nation's first Baby Boomer, Ms. Casey-Kirschling is leading what is often referred to as America's silver tsunami. Over the next two decades, nearly eighty million Americans …

Social Security Reform: An Analysis Of The Ball/Altman Three-Point Plan, Kathryn L. Moore

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

In light of Social Security's long-term funding deficit, Robert Ball, a long-serving former Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, has proposed a three part plan that would bring the Social Security system into close actuarial balance. The first part of the plan consists of gradually increasing the maximum earnings base until it reaches 90 percent of earnings. The second part of the plan calls for dedicating the estate tax to funding Social Security beginning in 2010, and the third part of the plan consists of investing a portion of the Social Security trust fund in equities. Nancy Altman, Chairman of …

Raising The Social Security Retirement Ages: Weighing The Costs And Benefits, Kathryn L. Moore

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The Social Security program faces a long-term funding deficit. The Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors and Disability Insurance ("OASDI") Trust Funds predicts that unless corrective action is taken, Social Security benefit payments will exceed dedicated tax revenues by the year 2015, and the Social Security program will become insolvent—unable to pay promised benefits in full-by the year 2037. As a result of this projected deficit, Social Security has become "a lightning rod for far reaching reform proposals."

Proposals range from "traditional" proposals that would maintain the basics of the program's revenue and benefit structure but would …

The Effects Of Partial Privatization Of Social Security Upon Private Pensions, Kathryn L. Moore

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Social Security does not provide retirement income in a vacuum. Rather, commentators often refer to our national retirement income system as a three legged stool, with Social Security representing one of the legs and employer sponsored pension plans and individual savings representing the other two legs. Because changes in one leg of the stool are likely to have a direct impact on the other two legs, policymakers must not consider Social Security changes in isolation, but should take account of their effect on employer-sponsored pensions and individual savings. This Article analyzes how one of the most popular proposals, partial privatization, …

Partial Privatization Of Social Security: Assessing Its Effect On Women, Minorities, And Lower-Income Workers, Kathryn L. Moore

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Once viewed as the “third rail” of politics, Social Security appears to be moving inexorably toward reform. In his 1998 State of the Union address, President Clinton proclaimed strengthening Social Security a high priority and called for bipartisan forums on Social Security reform to be held throughout the United States. Similarly, following the 1998 November elections, congressional leaders expressed commitment to “saving Society Security,” and House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Archer renewed his commitment to bipartisan reform of Social Security as recently as December 8, 1999 in a letter to President Clinton. Congressional hearings on reform proposals are ubiquitous, …