Transcripts For CSPAN3 Social Security 20141103 : vimarsana.

CSPAN3 Social Security November 3, 2014

Threatening to cause the collapse of our country. President obama and senator shaheen seem confused about the nature of the threat. Not me. I want to secure the border, keep out the people who would do us harm and restore americas leadership in the world. Im scott brown and i approve this message. Because protecting the homeland is the first step to making america strong again. They dont call us the Granite State for nothing. Were tough here. I never back down for a fight for the people of new hampshire. I dont work for the Big Oil Companies or the big banks. I work for you. Shaving jobs at the shipyard, allowing people to compete. Allows families to refinance loans and veterans close to home. Getting the job done for new hampshire. Im jeanne shaheen. I approve this message. I diplomat just move here. Ive been here fighting for you. Id be honored to have your vote. Recent polls list this race as a tossup. Can you watch the most recent debate between senator shaheen and scott brown any time online at our website, cspan. Org. Next, remarks by jason furman, chair of the white House Counsel of economic advisers on why he thinks its critical to make changes to Social Security in order to sustain the program for future generations. His comments came as National Academy of social insurance released findings of a new study exploring americans views on Social Security. This is about two hours. Well, id like to welcome all of you to this National Academy of social insurance event. My name is william arnone. And today were releasing what i think is a very significant second study in which the American People were asked in a very systematic way, as youll hear, what would they prefer as the solution to Social Securitys longterm financial chal he engs . I dont know how often we get the chance to do surveys that force the American People to make tough choices. And thats what this survey did. And it really i view it really as the voice of the people on this very important. Its the crown jewel. When the mesh people are presented with facts about it, its surprising how they come up with very sensible and in some ways sacrificing answers, as youll hear. I get to washington periodically from new york. I cant imagine another issue where in this city theres across the board agreements whether its in politics, the arts, sports, maybe agreement the Washington Capitals will never win the stanley cup. Other than that, theres really not a lot where people agree across the board. And yet on Social Security, as youll hear, there is broad agreement. By broad i mean across generational lines, geographical lines, income levels and even political affiliation. So its a unifying issue if the American People are listened to. Thats really the challenge. Thats the reason the academy and our mission is to educate the American People about why we have programs like Social Security, medicare, unemployment insurance. So, were going to be discussing this. Before we do that, i do want to thank two of our sponsors who made this report possible, the Ford Foundation and the tufts health foundation. I have a particular warmth in my heart for tufts. My daughter is a junior there and she loves it. That has nothing to do with supporting this survey. We really appreciate, though, what they did. There is a blue evaluation form in the materials that you were sgich. And we really hope youll take the time at the end of this to provide us with candid feedback on the value of this event or things you might have hoped for that we didnt provide. Please promise to fill it out before you leave today. In terms of the order, my colleague alisa walker with describe the studys finding. Matthew greenwald will show how it shows informed and sometimes difficult choices. Then were thrilled jason furman, who chairs the counsel of economic advisers and also a member of the National Academy of social insurance is going to join us to comment on the study and address some of the issues the study raises. Then well have an outstanding panel on hand this morning to provide their perspective and also answer any questions you might have in the course of the presentation. So, let me introduce lisa walker to you. Alisa is an income policy analyst with the academy. And shes part of a generation i was talking to her earlier, generation y doesnt seem to be the label you like, millennial. My daughter clearly does not want to be called generation y, prefers not to be compared to other agagenerations like x boomers, forget it. Notice need to be compared to us. And shes really the voices generation. As youll hear, the survey found some disturbing opinions on the part of that generation when they were asked, will Social Security be there for you . However, the more facts people are given, the more they understand that Social Securitys future is much better than they were led to believe. And alyssa, of course, does not share the gloomy view because she has been steeping herself in the facts, as youll hear. She really has had a commitment to developing objective facts and findings on Social Security. So, to some extent the survey is a very natural continuation of her career. And shell be fouled by Matt Greenwald, who directs the Research Firm that bears his name. As youll hear the method olg they use, novel tradeoff methodology really makes this survey unique, its findings, and i think it makes it much more meaningful than other types of methodology that dont force these tough decisions. After the Panel Discussion well have time for q a. If during the time of the question, feel free to ask it. Otherwise well ask you to hold the questions until the panel alisa, let me start with you. Shell take you through what the survey found. Thank you, bill. Its a pleasure to be here to present find rgz from Academy Public opinion study. Americans make hard which choices on Social Security. The study consisted of three related parts. We conducted focus groups in baltimore. We then conducted an Online Survey of 2,000 americans age 21 and older about their attitudes towards Social Security and the importance of benefits and their views on policy changes. As part of the Online Survey, we used an enter active tradeoff analysis method to learn which Social Security changes americans prefer and are willing to. We partnered with greenwald and associates and matt will discuss the tradeoff analysis in more detail. I want to start with just a couple of key facts about Social Security to lead into explaining why we did this study. First, Social Security is the foundation of Retirement Security for most americans. Benefits are modest. Under 1300 a month on average. Yet the main source of income for two out of three seniors. Benefits keep 22 million americans out of poverty and without Social Security, more than half seniors would live in poverty as defined by the supplemental povertity measure. Social security finances need attention. Social security faces a longterm financing gap. It can pay full benefits until 2033 but after that would only be able to pay about threequarters of benefits. In order to pay full benefits, Social Security needs adjustment. Thats where the study comes in. As lawmakers deliberate various options for adjusting Social Security, the National Academy of social insurance undertook this study. The survey first asked respondents their attitudes on Social Security benefits and have on paying fror the program. 7 in 10 said without Social Security they would have to make significant sacrifices or wouldnt be able to afford the bakes in retirement. Thins like food, clothing or housing. Large majorities of americans say they dont mind paying for Social Security for a variety of reasons. 73 agree with that statement that they dont mind paying for Social Security because they know theyll be receiving benefits when they retire. 73 again know without it they would have to help support their parents or other relatives. And moefs all, people value the security and stability that Social Security provides millions of americans. 81 of respondents say they dont mind paying for Social Security because of that. The following chart shows responses to that last statement by political party. 72 of republicans, 87 of democrats and 81 of independents say they dont mind paying Social Security taxes because it provides security and stability to millions of americans. Large majorities agree across generation and income lines as well. Americans not only dont mind paying for Social Security, they also indicate they would consider increasing benefits. 85 agree Social Security benefits now are more important than ever to ensure retirees have a dependable income. Nine in ten say current benefits dont provide enough income to retirees. More than 7 in 10 say we should consider increasing Social Security benefits. However, as we all know, theres no free lunch. Increasing benefits comes with a cost, so we all explored americans willingness to pay somewhat more for Social Security if needed. Nearly 8 in 10 respondents agree with the statement, it is critical we preserve Social Security benefits for future generations, even if it means increasing the Social Security taxes paid by working americans. That includes about a third who strongly agree. And more than eight in ten agree if it increases Social Security taxes paid by top earners. So, large majorities of americans believe all workers could contribute somewhat more to Social Security if necessary and that better off americans could pay more because they have higher earnings. This holds true across generations. The following chart shows political party. Those agrees working americans could pay more include seven in ten republicans and eight in ten democrats. Those earning the top earnings could pay more include a striking seven in ten republicans and nine in ten democrats. These issues these responses leave no doubt that on Social Security, americans are far less polarized than they are on many other issues. In another part of the study, we used tradeoff analysis to examine which Social Security changes americans prefer and are willing to pay for. Respondents examined 12 Social Security policy changes including four revenue increases, four revenue increases. Each option was presented with a Short Description and an estimate of that options impact on Social Securitys financing gap. I wont read through the entire list of options but its available in the short report and the highlights brief you picked up on your way in. And that will be going into more detail on the tradeoff methodology so im going to skip straight to the findings. The tradeoff analysis found that americans preferred package of changes to Social Security would do four things. First gradually eliminate the tax cut over four years. This means 6 of workers who earn more than the cap would pay into Social Security all year long as other workers do. In return, they would get slightly higher benefits. Second, it would very gradually raise the Social Security tax rate from 6. 2 to 7. 2 over 20 years for workers and employers each. The increase would be so gradual that a worker earning 50,000 a year would pay about 50 cents a week more each year matched by their employer. Third it would increase Social Securitys cost of living adj t adjustment or c. O. L. A. And, fourth, it would raise Social Securitys basic minimum benefit so someone who paid into Social Security for 30 years can retire at 62 or later and not be poor. These changes would more than eliminate gap. Specifically the package eliminates 113 of the shortfall under assumptions of the 2013 Trustees Report which was the most recent available when the survey fielded in june and 107 under the newer 2014 Trustees Report. This preferred package is also the same as what americans preferred in 2012 when the academys prior study was conducted. Seven in ten americans would prefer this package of changes over the status quo. And study across generations, income groups and political parties. In each instance, about seven in ten respondents prefer this packa package. Tradeoff analysis also allows us to learn how respondents weigh the appeal or lack of appeal of individual policy options. For example, some options have a strong positive impact. Meaning that respondents are much more likely to choose a package when that option is included in this. Four options with strong positive appeal were gradually eliminating the tax cap, gradually raising the tax rate 7. 2 , keeping the retirement age at 67 rather than raising it, and increasing the c. O. L. A. Four other options have strong neglect ty appeal. They rpt not lifting the tax cap, not raising the tax rate, raising the retirement age to 70 and lowering the c. O. L. A. Now, that was from the tradeoff analysis. In the survey we also asked respondents their views on policy options one at a time. Using a very direct question, do you favor or oppose this option . Thats clearly a different methodology which looked at each option. But the results are consistent. Heres one way of depicting these survey answers on individual policy options that makes the choices clear. Its small on the green but also available in the fact sheets in your folders. So, in this graph the green bars above the access indicate respondents who say they somewhat or strongly favor each option. And the red bars below the access indicate respondent who is somewhat or strongly oppose the option. As youll notice the four options in the package also received high levels of support on these survey questions. For example, looking at the first bar, more than eight in ten respondents say they favor increasing the tax rate to 7. 2 , including nearly four in ten who strongly favor that option. Options to reduce benefits generally received low support. For example, in it is second to last bar, threequarters of respondents opposed raising the retirmentd age to 70, including more than four in ten who strongly oppose it. The report has very interesting findings in americans confidence in Social Security. Despite their support for the program and their willingness to pay for it, six in ten respondents say they are not confident in the future of Social Security. We also asked americans who are not currently receiving benefits whether they expected to get all their earned benefits when they retire and nearly seven in ten said no. In addition, one in four americans knew Social Security would still be able to pay about threequarters of benefits after 2033. Most of the rest thought Social Securitys finances would be in far worse shape. 30 thought the program would be unable to pay any benefits at all. So, next we tried a little experiment. We asked people what they think of Social Securitys funding in the future. Is it a crisis, a significant problem, a manageable problem or not a problem . 70 said they thought it was a crisis or significant problem. And 30 thought it was a manageable problem or not a problem. Thats not too surprising given the low levels of confidence in Social Security that i just mentioned. But whats noteworthy when you give more people information, these proportions flip. The share of people who thought Social Security funding is a crisis or significant problem dropped from 70 to 33 . While the share saying its a manageable problem or not a problem rose from 30 to 67 . That was after learning that raising Social Security taxes from 6. 2 to 7. 7 for both workers and employers would ensure the program could pay full benefits for the next 75 years. So, Accurate Information helps People Better assess the scope of the challenges that Social Security faces. Im going to add a coup

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