The March 24 editorial “
Nobody needs over $100,000 per year in Social Security benefits” was based on the fallacy that Social Security is a welfare program. It is, in fact, social insurance. Workers pay into the program and receive payments to replace income upon retirement, disability or the death of a family breadwinner. These are the “hazards and vicissitudes of life” that President Franklin D. Roosevelt referred to when signing Social Security into law. Means-testing Social Security, as the Editorial Board proposed, would grossly distort a program that has worked successfully for 90 years to provide Americans with basic financial security. Means-testing to the extent that it would save the program significant money could mean reducing benefits for people earning as little as $50,000 per year — cutting deep into the heart of the middle class.
The Post also proposed a flat benefit, which would convert Social Security into yet another welfare program that can easily be gutted. Instead, adjusting the payroll wage cap, which is set at $184,500 per year, is a popular choice and would correct for the growing wealth inequality that increasingly deprives the system of much-needed revenue.
Max Richtman, Washington
The writer is president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.