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Cato Analyst Testifies to Senate Finance Committee
October 7, 2002
Thursday, Cato Social Security analyst Andrew Biggs testified before a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee regarding the recommendations of the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security. Biggs was a staff member to the Commission during 2001. His oral testimony rebutted charges that the Commission's plans would produce large cuts in benefits, while his written testimony covered that charge as well as a number of other important objections raised in a recent study by Peter Orszag of the Brookings Institution and Peter Diamond of MIT.
Also testifying, Olivia Mitchell, a member of the President's Commission, stated that while "There is probably no perfect solution…personal accounts seems to me and seemed to the Commission to be a preferable path to the unappealing alternatives, namely raising taxes or cutting benefits."
"Opponents of private accounts argued that the commission's plans ultimately will cut benefits. Supporters countered that Social Security will not be able to pay what it is promising future retirees now, so they actually would get an increase in benefit." Additionally, "Opponents were criticized for failing to offer their own ideas for fixing the system. They said they would freeze implementation of Bush's tax cut and use that money to fund the shortfall."
Others who testified included:
Member Statements:
- Max Baucus, MT (chairman)
- Charles Grassley, IA (ranking member)
Witness Statements: |
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