FactCheck.org AARP Says Social Security Needs "Moderate" Changes

FactCheck.org AARP Says Social Security Needs "Moderate" Changes:

"Summary

Can the current Social Security system -- without individual accounts -- be fixed with only 'a few moderate changes,' as AARP suggests in a recent newspaper ad? A look at some of proposals that have been verified by neutral experts shows that they rely more on tax increases than benefit cuts. Whether the required changes are 'moderate' or not will be a matter of opinion, but readers can judge for themselves by looking at the details we present here.

We note here that some proposals turn out to be only temporary fixes. They put the system in balance for a 75-year period immediately following enactment but leave it with a large and growing gap between benefits and taxes at the end. Worse, such '75-year fixes' actually come undone within a few years, just like the 1983 package of tax increases and benefit cuts that was supposed to solve the system's financing problems, but didn't. Achieving sustainable solvency requires bigger changes."