Original article from: Yahoo!
Joe Biden’s plans for Social Security and Supplemental Security Income would lift 1.4 million Americans out of poverty in its first year, a new analysis found, along with guaranteeing the payout of full benefits for another five years.
The former vice president’s plan hinges on imposing the 6.2% Social Security tax on earnings above $400,000. Employees and their employers are taxed on earnings up to $137,000 under current guidelines.
LEFT VIEWPOINTS
Improving Social Security is a great start, but we need UBI!
- Social security has been one of the most successful programs ever created in the United States. Before Social Security, roughly half of all seniors lived in poverty.
- In addition to Social Security, our country needs to consider a universal basic income (UBI). UBI would cause money to flow into the poorest parts of the economy, significantly reduce welfare, homelessness, crime, and other societal problems associated with poverty.
- One person’s spending is another person’s income. If economic spending declines, a corresponding reduction in incomes also occurs. This lowers tax revenue and hurts the economy. The best economies have a healthy mix of safety nets and free-market forces. People in the United States often assume an economy should be “all capitalism” or “all socialism.” Both views are wrong. A health economy is a mixed economy that has safety nets that do no disincentivize work or innovation. UBI, universal healthcare, and equally funded public-schools would be among the best safety nets we could add going forward.
When did Social Security begin, and how has it changed?
Social Security began in 1935 and has been amended several times. Republicans generally oppose Social Security. Ronald Reagan signed a law that subjected Social Security to income taxes.
What is a UBI?
Universal Basic Income isn’t a new idea, and it isn’t a left or right idea. If we are going to provide a safety net to people, UBI is the free-market approach to doing it. One of the most significant benefits of a UBI is that it doesn’t disincentivize work. Current welfare programs take benefits away if a person’s income increase, which causes people to avoid work. UBI is a straightforward way to administer a safety net to the public because there is no means-testing involved. Everyone gets the same amount, no matter how much they make.