03.09.2005 ||  Former Democratic Congressman Charlie Stenholm and Tim Penny published an op-ed in Roll Call this week calling for a more reasoned discussion of Social Security reform. 

Progressive Approaches to Benefit Changes In Social Security Reform
1.26.2005 ||  The New York Times reports that the Bush administration is considering proposals which would make benefit changes to close the financing gap facing Social Security in a progressive manner. Such a change would satisfy a key centrist criterion: Hold down costs, but strengthen the safety net.

Is Social Security's Financial Future In Jeopardy?  Three Perspectives, Similar Conclusions
1.25.2005 ||  Centrists.Org and The Alliance for Worker Retirement Security co-hosted an event featuring Steve Goss, Doug Holtz-Eakin, & Dave Walker.  The panelists discussed their respective estimates and perspectives of the size and nature of financial challenges facing Social Security.  Click here for their presentations: Steve Goss, Doug Holtz-Eakin (CBO Report), Dave Walker.  Transcript coming soon!  Original Event Announcement.

Updated Detailed Issue Summary:  Social Security
1.20.2005 ||  Issue Summaries are an up-to-date, on-line reference on topics studied by Centrists.Org.

Upcoming Event:  Is Social Security's Financial Future In Jeopardy?  Three Perspectives, Similar Conclusions  Please join Centrists.Org and The Alliance for Worker Retirement Security on January 21^st as Steve Goss, Chief Actuary of the Social Security Administration, Doug Holtz-Eakin, Director of CBO, & Dave Walker, Comptroller General of the United States , discuss their respective estimates and perspectives of the size and nature of financial challenges facing Social Security.

Commentary: Op-Ed by Senators Graham (R-SC)and Conrad (D-ND)
12.23.2004 ||  An op-ed authored by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) in USA Today sets out guidelines for the Social Security debate that could form the foundation for a constructive dialogue toward a bipartisan solution to the challenges facing Social Security.

Progressivity Analysis of Senator Graham's Social Security Proposal (CentristPolicyNetwork.Org)
10.17.2004 ||  A new report from the Social Security Administration includes a "distributional" analysis, identifying the winners and losers under Sen. Graham's reform plan.  In general, low-income workers fare better than under the current benefit system.

Social Security "Add-On" Accounts With Benefit Offset
revised 09.27.2004 ||  Personal add-on accounts could help balance future Social Security benefits and available revenues without the "transition costs" associated with other reform proposals.  A breakthrough bipartisan idea?

CBO's New Estimates of Social Security Reform Proposals
07.23.2004 ||  CBO has released three new reports on the Kolbe-Stenholm Social Security bill and President Bush's Social Security proposal.  Legislators are bombarded with politically motivated gibberish masquerading as analysis -- CBO's new work sets a higher standard. 

Testimony:  Comparing Social Security Reform Proposals
06.15.2004 ||  To cut through the political noise and cultivate some bipartisanship, we need accessible, unbiased explanations of how reform proposals would impact the budget and affect workers. 
Charts and Tables Only:  web format (html) printable format (PDF)

CBO vs. Trustees on Social Security:  A New Model Tells A Similar Story
preliminary 06.14.2004 ||  CBO's new model is really telling us the same story:  Social Security benefits will jump by about 2 percentage points of GDP over the next 25 years, while revenues stay roughly flat.

Kerry Talks Social Security (CentristPolicyNetwork.Org)
04.19.2004 ||  Sen. Kerry’s main idea to sustain the program -- faster economic growth -- and his fall-back idea, means-testing, fall well short.

Transcript:  Addressing Greenspan's Challenge on Social Security and Savings:  Views from an Emerging Generation of Political Leaders
originally posted 04.01.2004; minor formatting changes made 04.02.2004 ||  Transcript of a discussion on Social Security reform held on March 25, 2004 with Senator Lindsey Graham and Rep. Harold Ford, moderated by Morton Kondracke of Roll Call.

Rep. Ford's Social Security "Bridge" Benefit Proposal for Dislocated Workers
03.25.2004 ||  At an event co-sponsored by Centrists.Org this afternoon, Rep. Harold Ford Jr. proposed a new Social Security “bridge” benefit to supplement the wages of certain workers nearing retirement age.  This idea could help open new avenues for bipartisan discussion on an issue usually characterized by partisan gridlock.

The Kolbe-Stenholm Social Security Reform Plan
revised 02.14.2004  ||  The new Social Security reform plan proposed by Reps. Jim Kolbe and Charlie Stenholm combines fiscal responsibility with the wealth-building potential of personal Social Security retirement accounts.

New Detailed Issue Summary:  Social Security Reform
updated 01.05.2004 ||  "Detailed" Issue Summaries are an up-to-date, on-line reference on topics studied by Centrists.Org

Budgetary Effects of the Diamond-Orszag Social Security Proposal
revised 12.31.2003 ||  This proposal would resolve Social Security's funding shortfall directly, mostly by raising taxes.  The plan is fully "paid-for," without gimmicks or wishful assumptions.  The downside is that the tax increases would be permanent, not temporary. 

Unfunded Transition Costs of the Ferrara Social Security Proposal
revised 12.10.2003 ||  Anti-tax activist Peter Ferrara's Social Security reform plan includes large personal accounts and a guarantee that benefits would not be reduced.  What's the catch?  The enormous unfunded transition costs.

A Preliminary Analysis of Sen. Graham's Social Security Proposal
revised 12.14.2003 ||  The reform proposal introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina this morning is serious and worthy of bipartisan consideration.  

Raising the Cap on Payroll Taxes Doesn't Solve the Social Security Problem
11.17.2003 ||  Raising the cap on annual earnings subject to the payroll tax ($87,000 in 2003) would simply defer Social Security's cash-flow problem by a few years -- it isn't a permanent solution.

Put Social Security Reform in the President's Budget (CentristPolicyNetwork.Org)
11.17.2003 ||  Until the President and Congress allocate funds for the transition costs of reform in their budgets, the Social Security debate won't be taken seriously.

Suggestions for Income Testing in Social Insurance Programs
10.27.2003 ||  On reflection, the debate over income testing in Medicare is larger than the prescription drug bill in Congress -- it raises fundamental questions about how Americans want social insurance programs to work.

A Challenge To Both Left and Right on Social Security Reform (CentristPolicyNetwork.Org)
09.16.2003  ||  The left shouldn't automatically scorn Social Security reform, but the right must figure out how to pay for its large transition costs.