Perhaps taking a cue from the outrageous remarks made by Donald Trump that has made him the frontrunner of the GOP pack for several months now as the presidential nominee, Dr. Ben Carson’s negative comments that inflamed Muslims yet brought him a huge boost in dollars from donors, and Jeb Bush’s “free stuff” remark that may have been a calculated gaffe to improve his status among conservatives, we now have Sen. Rand Paul concocting a tale that Social Security is running short of money—a bit of a myth to jumpstart his floundering presidential campaign.
Paul’s passel of lies is basically an attack against Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Social Security Expansion Act—something that he has been pushing for months and that we unequivocally support. And we are not alone on supporting the expansion of Social Security. Polls consistently show that nearly 80 percent of Americans—even the majority of Republicans—would like to see an increase in benefits.
If Sanders and others are right, Social Security, for the moment, is in pretty good shape, with more than $2 trillion in surplus. Those Republicans, mainly, who oppose the expansion charge that such a bill will be very costly at a time when the economy is far from stable.
But Sanders claims that his bill will pay for itself if a few tax loopholes are sealed. One of the loopholes he proposes to close is one that allows those whose income is over $118,500 a year to escape paying into Social Security an additional amount.
We applaud Sanders’ plan that corrects this inequality by eliminating the cap and making people pay their fair share. As the senator from Vermont has pointed out on several occasions, unearned income, such as capital gain from stock market investments, is not subject to the payroll tax. Individuals in this category, the 1 percenters, acquire more than half of the capital gain earnings. The ordinary worker with his or her earned income is not fortunate enough to be among the wealthy and thus must contribute to Social Security.
Social Security has been around since 1935, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed it into law, and it has been for many Americans, particularly the elderly, the greatest portion of their fixed income. In a larger sense, it has been a salvation for many of our senior citizens—a cornerstone to one’s retirement plan, an anti-poverty benefit.
It’s certainly a benefit for those who live long enough to enjoy it. Black men in America are around the least number of years to receive the benefits. Otherwise, their spouses or children may be the beneficiaries. Fortunately, over the past several years, African-American males in the state of New York are living a little bit longer. In 1990, the life expectancy of a Black man in the state was 63.9. It rose to 75.4 years by 2009.
Many experts on Social Security advise Black men in particular to apply for their benefits as soon as they qualify, usually at age 62. To do so, however, will reduce your monthly allotment. There are a number of ways you can manipulate your full retirement with or without a spouse’s benefits.
We are not here to instruct on the ways by which you should negotiate your retirement plan; our advice is to look into it as soon as possible so you’re in a position to weigh your options. Too many of our Black elderly citizens are not aware of how best to arrange their retirement plan, and this knowledge is critical because it has been reported that almost 80 percent of African-Americans over age 65 depend on Social Security for more than half their income. Without these benefits, the poverty rate among older African-Americans, the study by the NAACP reported, would more than double.
If you—or a relative—are approaching retirement, we recommend that you contact the Social Security Administration right away and get all the available information on various plans to best assist you and your family.
Our hope is that Sanders’ proposal makes its way through Congress because taxing those who are better able to pay into the pool can only make life better for those less endowed.
