Downloadable pdf: Social Security’s Debt Limit Escape Clause Introduction Last month, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen notified Congress that the federal government had reached the current debt limit ($31.4 trillion).[1] As a result, the Treasury Department has undertaken traditional “extraordinary measures” that are expected to allow the government to continue borrowing through at least early June. […]| The Concord Coalition
This week the Senate Budget Committee released a plan that would add nearly $6 trillion to the national debt and simply ignore the roughly $4 trillion cost of extending several expiring tax cuts because they are “current policy,” while tacking on $1.5 trillion of additional tax cuts and $500 billion in new spending – because, […]| The Concord Coalition
On March 11, President Biden transmitted to Congress his proposed budget for FY 2025. Although a Republican-controlled House means the Biden budget has little chance of enactment without significant modification, it represents an important starting point for negotiations and is an opportunity to initiate a national dialogue on our policy priorities: what do we want […]| The Concord Coalition
According to public opinion polls, the most popular way to “fix” Social Security is by taxing the rich, specifically by increasing or eliminating the limit on wages subject to the Social Security payroll tax. Despite the populist appeal of this approach, it would have several offsetting effects on both Social Security and the federal budget that policymakers should not ignore.| The Concord Coalition
This issue brief will examine the history and rationale for taxing benefits, compare the tax treatment of Social Security to annuities from defined benefit pension plans, and examine how the taxation of benefits affects the program’s finances. It concludes that Social Security benefits are treated more favorably than annuities, and repealing the tax on benefits could adversely affect the program more than the Trustees’ projections currently indicate.| The Concord Coalition
