2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumO'Malley Leads in the Fight to Defend and Expand Social Security.
Our parents and grandparents should be able to retire in dignitynot poverty. Yet today in America, too many retirees are struggling to make ends meet. At the same time, the economic pressures on millions of familiesfrom stagnant wages and high housing costs, to a lack of affordable childcare and skyrocketing college tuitionhave resulted in meager, if any, retirement savings for tomorrows retirees. . .
From the whitepaper:
As president, Governor OMalley will:
- Increase Social Security benefits for all retireesboth todays and tomorrows. Governor OMalley supports immediately boosting monthly benefits in a progressive manner for all retirees. Social Security was intended as a supplement to individual savings and pensions, but today, one in five married couples, and nearly half of unmarried individuals, rely almost exclusively on Social Security checks to survive. More than two-thirds of Americans near retirement will not have enough savings to maintain their current standard of living.
- Strengthen Social Securitys long-term fiscal outlook. The solvency of Social Security is not in crisis: Social Security has adequate funds to pay full benefits through 2034. But to pay for expanded benefits, Governor OMalley supports lifting the cap on the payroll tax for workers earning more than $250,000. In addition, Congress should implement policies to lift the wages of all workers, which will make meaningful contributions to Social Securitys long-term balance sheet. This includes raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and enacting comprehensive immigration reform.
- Ensure Social Security benefits are sufficient to keep retirees out of poverty. The immediate future is dire for many Americans nearing retirement: one in five Americans has no retirement savings at all. To keep seniors out of poverty, Governor OMalley supports increasing the special minimum social security benefit to 125 percent of the poverty line for Americans who have worked at least 30 years.
- Increase Social Security benefits for minimum wage- and lower-income workers. As wealth inequality continues to widen and traditional middle class jobs prove harder to come by, Governor OMalley supports adjusting bend points in the formula to give minimum-wage and lower- and middle-income workers more financial security.
- Prevent benefits from eroding over time. Governor OMalley supports using the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E) instead of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners (CPI-W) to determine Social Securitys cost-of-living adjustments. The CPI-E provides a more accurate reflection of the higher cost of living for retirees than the current measure, which focuses on younger workers. Using the CPI-E will ensure that benefits do not erode for future generations of retirees.
- Reform Social Security to support, rather than penalize, caregiving. Governor OMalley supports providing up to five years of caregiver credits that would increase the 35-year wage base for those who spend an extended period of time providing fulltime care for children, elderly parents, or other dependents. In practice, current methods of calculating benefits penalize workers, most often women, who take extended time off to care for their families.
- Reject efforts to raise the Social Security retirement age. Governor OMalley believes that raising the retirement age is a back-door way to cut benefits for lower-income workers. It harms these workers in two ways: by forcing them to delay retirement in jobs that are often physically difficult, and by reducing lifetime payouts compared to wealthier retirees, who live five years longer on average than their lower-income counterparts.
- Dramatically expand access to employer-based retirement plans. Half of all workers do not have access to a retirement plan. Among part-time and low-income workers, roughly seven in 10 lack an employer-based retirement option. Governor OMalley would require employers with more than 10 employees to process an automatic employee contribution to an IRA for all employees, at a level determined by the employee (who would have the option to opt out).
- Raise wages so all workers can afford to save. Since millions of hardworking Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck and struggle to save for retirement, raising the minimum wage and other wage policies are also critical to ensuring that todays workers can retire with dignity and security in the future.
- Reject efforts to privatize Social Security. Governor OMalley views proposals to privatize Social Security for what they area massive benefits cut that will gut Social Security, add to the federal debt, and leave future generations without the critical protections Social Security has provided for decades.
- Increase penalties for those who defraud our seniors. Older Americans are often targets for financial scams and exploitation, at an estimated cost of nearly $3 billion a year. The vast majority of frauds go unreported. Governor OMalley will advocate for policies to protect our seniors from financial fraud, including laws to increase penalties for the financial exploitation of older Americans, laws to allow financial advisors to refuse or delay transactions where clients are being defrauded or exploited, programs to better identify and report financial exploitation among older Americans, and increased investment in prosecutors and advocates to go after elderly abuse.
- Fully implement the fiduciary rule. Under existing retirement advice rules, some brokers and financial advisers are allowed to sell Americans products even if they know they are poor investments. This conflict of interest, where advisers put their own bottom lines before helping their clients, costs workers saving for retirement $17 billion every year. President Obama has proposed a critical and commonsense rule to require those who give financial advice to put their clients interests first. Governor OMalley will fully enforce this important fiduciary standard, protecting the retirement savings of millions of Americans and creating a level playing field for the many investment advisers who already act in their customers best interests.
- Make affordable, high-quality long-term care a national priority. Americans longer lifespans are outpacing our ability to provide quality and affordable long-term care. Although seven out of 10 Americans will need home care at some point in their lives, many Americans and their families struggle to afford it. Nine out of 10 people who provide long-term care are women, while home care workers are underpaid, overworked, and lack important benefits and protections.
"Its not the sky thats falling. Its the floor thats falling out from under our seniors."
-O'Malley
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/08/28/1416187/-O-Malley-Bests-Bernie-in-the-Fight-Against-the-ReTrumplican-Agenda-to-Privatize-Social-Security
JustAnotherGen
(31,828 posts)When did I stop seeing an amount in the Fed OASDI/EE field of my online pay stub this year?
I didn't miss the money.
Tax me. I want this country to tax my full earnings for Social Security. All year. Not just up to beach season.
elleng
(130,972 posts)seabeyond
(110,159 posts)Andy823
(11,495 posts)That cap should have been lifted a long time ago, it's way past the time to do it.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)implementing or ability to, or showing capable of, is pretty damn important to me.
elleng
(130,972 posts)is CRITICAL!
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)elleng
(130,972 posts)seabeyond
(110,159 posts)not accomplished. and one that goes right down the middle. some and not as much as i would like.
elleng
(130,972 posts)looking at how candidates have done, so far, should be a major aspect of our choices, imo.
Andy823
(11,495 posts)Accomplishments mean a lot, and really should be a major aspect of why someone picks a certain candidate over another. His accomplishments, along with detailed plans on how he will go about fixing things is why I support him.
Andy823
(11,495 posts)How much he puts into his plans, and especially how he puts it all down on paper for everyone to see. You don't have to "guess" how he "might" do something, you just have to read it.
elleng
(130,972 posts)seabeyond
(110,159 posts)chatting with a strong omalley supporter that i like him, but was disappointed in that, ..... he sent me omalleys woman stuff
it was not meager. it was not a mere.... equal pay and abortion rights. it was detailed. it showed me omalley understood the issues, what was needed, that he was not tone deaf on womens issues. may be the strong women in his family (i later found out).
but yes. immediately, that first day, that is what sold me. and i have seen it every since.
Raine1967
(11,589 posts)It right there for all to read.
I just really like every policy position he has out forth.
Andy823
(11,495 posts)I think that once people hear him, his numbers will go up. Now if we can just get some debates going.
Peacetrain
(22,877 posts)You know what you are supporting 100%