Guest Poet: The Saving Social Security Poem
Another poetic gem from TMV’s favorite poet, Michael Silverstein, aka Wall Street Poet:
One reason the problem of Social Security’s solvency seems so untractable is that not all the alternatives to make the system solvent are ever mentioned — especially those that would make one of the planet’s most regressive tax structures more progressive.
The Saving Social Security Poem
About social security
The choices seem quite clear,
Only two things now can save it
(Say the only seers you hear).
We must either cut the benefits
Or make new claimants wait
‘Til they’re older by a year or two
To pass its entrance gate.
Unless we take these vital steps
(Official sources say).
The system will go belly up
There’ll be all hell to pay.
Of course, there is one other way
To keep this program solvent;
Another way, its fiscal angst,
Forever to resolve it.
Just make the biggest earners
Pay the same rate as the poor;
Folks making those big salaries
The system now don’t gore.
If we SSI’d all earners
But on payouts keep a cap,
We would not just solve a problem
We would close a fairness gap.
So why is a solution
That makes sense in limbo mired?
‘Cause the buzz is fixed in concrete
So fresh thinking ain’t required.
Copyright 2008 Michael Silverstein
2 Responses to “Guest Poet: The Saving Social Security Poem”
“We must either cut the benefits
Or make new claimants wait”
The second is the same as the first — an effective benefit reduction.
The modern age today for retirement (2008) should be 70 if not higher (72).
This isn't the only thing the “seers” [sic] say is needed. The other thing to do is to raise Social Security taxes. Eliminating the cap on the wages subject to the tax is going to delay the onset of program deficits by only a few years, however.
And this, of course, is untrue:
“If we SSI’d all earners
But on payouts keep a cap,
We would not just solve a problem
We would close a fairness gap.”