AARP Opposes Social Security Tax Cut Plan
The nation’s largest senior citizen group on Friday opposed proposals to cut Social Security taxes, saying the system’s mounting reserves will be needed to ensure full benefits for future generations.
The American Assn. of Retired Persons had been courted by fans and foes of Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s proposal to cut the payroll tax that finances Social Security benefits.
AARP President Louise Crooks said the association was “concerned with the potential loss of $55 billion or more in annual revenue if the Social Security payroll tax is rolled back.”
The policy was adopted by the AARP’s six-member executive committee, acting on a recommendation from its 32-member legislative council.
Moynihan, a New York Democrat, is concerned that Social Security’s growing trust fund reserves are being used to mask the true size of the federal deficit and to pay for other government programs.
His solution is to halt the buildup of the reserves and to return Social Security to a pay-as-you-go system in which taxes would be raised in the next century to finance retirement benefits.
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