U.S. Senate Candidate Releases Social Security Reform Framework

Plan includes $2,400 annual tax cut for middle class Americans while protecting safety-net

Bismarck, N.D. – Duane Sand, candidate for U.S. Senate from North Dakota, held a press conference outlining his framework for an acceptable approach to Social Security reform using data available from the American Academy of Actuaries.

“For years, all we have heard is talk when it comes to Social Security,” said Duane Sand, candidate for U.S. Senate.  “The time for talk is over; a major part of getting America back on track involves finally fixing the coming Social Security crash.”

The framework, as released, includes the following revenue enhancers which represents an approach that permanently fixes Social Security by:

• Reducing the combined employer/employee tax rate from 12.4% to 7.6%, a 40% rate reduction.
• Eliminating the current contribution caps, making every dollar earned by every American treated the same effectively converting the Social Security funding mechanism into a Flat Tax.
• Applying progressive indexing (means testing) to Social Security benefits based on retirement income needs.  This will result in ending Social Security’s status as an entitlement regardless of income, and solidify its role as a true safety-net program.
• Accelerating the currently scheduled retirement age increases to 67; and establishing a retirement age of 70 for everyone born after 2024.

“These revenue enhancements result in a broadening of the tax base beyond what is needed to simply fix the Social Security program,” Sand continued.  “As a result, we would be able to reduce the total combined Social Security tax rate from 12.4% to 7.6%.  By broadening the base of income subject to Social Security tax, and lowering the rate than everyone pays, we can make substantial progress to the cause of overall tax reform.”

Based on this framework, and assuming the entire rate reduction is applied to the Employee portion of the pre-2010 baseline rate, a family making $50,000 would see an annual increase of their disposable income.

“This is a model for tax reform that once applied and proven successful in fixing Social Security can be transposed on the federal income tax code itself.  This can and should be viewed by tax reform activists as a first step in creating a Flat Tax system in America,” Sand concluded.