2004 Social Security Reform and Personal Retirement Accounts Resource Page
Updated 10/17/2004

The page contains links to references, legislative material, and other items related to the Social Security reform and Personal Retirement Accounts debate for 2004.

Congressional or Social Security Administration Resources
Centrists.Org and CentristPolicyNetwork.Org Analysis or Commentary


Congressional or Social Security Administration Resources:

Social Security Administration Highlights of distributional analysis of the Graham proposal (September 21, 2004)

Social Security Administration Distributional Analysis of S. 1878, the Social Security Solvency and Modernization Act of 2003 (September 7, 2004)

Congressional Budget Office Long-Term Analysis of Kolbe-Stenholm Social Security Reform Proposal, H.R. 3821 (July 21, 2004)

Congressional Budget Office Long-Term Analysis of President's Social Security Commission Plan #2 (July 21, 2004)

Congressional Budget Office 10-Year Budget Estimate of Kolbe-Stenholm Social Security Reform Proposal, H.R. 3821 (July 21, 2004)

Social Security Administration, Office of the Actuary Memorandum Impact of Raising the Tax Cap to 90 Percent of Earnings (July 19, 2004)

Congressional Budget Office The Outlook for Social Security (June 2004)

Social Security Administration, Office of the Actuary Memorandum Estimated OASDI Financial Effects of the "Bipartisan Retirement Security Act" proposed by Reps. Kolbe and Stenholm (February 11, 2004)

Announcement of Kolbe-Stenholm Social Security Reform Proposal (February 11, 2004)

Congressional Research Service Retirement Savings Accounts:  President's Budget Proposals for FY2005 (updated February 6, 2004)

Congressional Research Service Retirement Savings and Personal Wealth:  A Summary of Recent Data (updated December 11, 2003)

Social Security Administration, Office of the Actuary Memorandum Estimated Financial Effects of the Diamond-Orszag Proposal (dated October 8, 2003; released December 10, 2003)

Social Security Administration, Office of the Actuary Memorandum Estimated Financial Effects of the [Peter Ferrara] "Progressive Personal Account" Plan (December 1, 2003)

Social Security Administration, Office of the Actuary Memorandum "Estimated OASDI Financial Effects Social Security Solvency and Modernization Act of 2003 as introduced by Senator Lindsey Graham" (November 18, 2003)

Sen. Lindsey Graham's Social Security Reform Proposal (S. 1878)

Social Security Administration Office of the Actuary Memo on Eliminating the Tax Cap (October 20, 2003)

Text of "Cease Fire" Letter from Sen Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Rep. Charlie Stenholm (D-TX), and Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) on Social Security political attacks (July 21, 2003)

Congressional Budget Office Online Guide to Tax Incentives for Retirement Savings and Utilization of Tax Incentives for Retirement Savings (August 2003)

Congressional Budget Office Evaluating and Accounting for Federal Investment in Corporate Stocks and Other Private Securities (January 2003)

President Bush's Social Security Commission (2001)


Centrists.Org and CentristPolicyNetwork.Org Analysis or Commentary:

Centrists.Org Social Security "Add-On" Accounts with Benefit Offset (revised September 27, 2004)

Testimony:  Comparing Social Security Reform Proposals
06.15.2004 ||  To cut through the political noise and cultivate some bipartisanship, we need accessible, unbiased explanations of how reform proposals would impact the budget and affect workers. 
Charts and Tables Only:  web format (html) printable format (PDF)

CBO vs. Trustees on Social Security:  A New Model Tells A Similar Story
preliminary 06.14.2004 ||  CBO's new model is really telling us the same story:  Social Security benefits will jump by about 2 percentage points of GDP over the next 25 years, while revenues stay roughly flat.

Kerry Talks Social Security (CentristPolicyNetwork.Org)
04.19.2004 ||  Sen. Kerry’s main idea to sustain the program -- faster economic growth -- and his fall-back idea, means-testing, fall well short.

Transcript:  Addressing Greenspan's Challenge on Social Security and Savings:  Views from an Emerging Generation of Political Leaders
posted 04.01.2004 ||  Transcript of a discussion on Social Security reform with Senator Lindsey Graham and Rep. Harold Ford, moderated by Morton Kondracke of Roll Call.  The event was held on March 25, 2004, in the Russell Senate Office Building.  It was sponsored by Centrists.Org, The Concord Coalition, The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget at the New America Foundation, and The Alliance for Worker Retirement Security.  Original Event Announcement.

Rep. Ford's Social Security "Bridge" Benefit Proposal for Dislocated Workers
03.25.2004 ||  At an event co-sponsored by Centrists.Org this afternoon, Rep. Harold Ford Jr. proposed a new Social Security “bridge” benefit to supplement the wages of certain workers nearing retirement age.  This idea could help open new avenues for bipartisan discussion on an issue usually characterized by partisan gridlock.

The Kolbe-Stenholm Social Security Reform Plan
revised 02.14.2004 ||  The new Social Security reform plan proposed by Reps. Jim Kolbe and Charlie Stenholm combines fiscal responsibility with the wealth-building potential of personal Social Security retirement accounts.  The proposal is comparable to the bill introduced last year by Senator Lindsey Graham.  However, the Kolbe-Stenholm approach does a better job of limiting and "paying for" its transition costs, which will be very important as U.S. budget problems worsen.

Centrists.Org Budgetary Effects of the Diamond-Orszag Social Security Proposal  (revised December 31, 2003)  This proposal would resolve Social Security's funding shortfall directly, mostly by raising taxes.  The plan is fully "paid-for," without gimmicks or wishful assumptions.  The downside is that the tax increases would be permanent, not temporary. 

Centrists.Org Unfunded Transition Costs of the Ferrara Social Security Proposal (revised December 10, 2003)  Anti-tax activist Peter Ferrara's Social Security reform plan includes large personal accounts and a guarantee that benefits would not be reduced.  What's the catch?  The enormous unfunded transition costs.

Centrists.Org The Fourth Entitlement:  Interest (December 1, 2003) The discussion of entitlement reform is often limited to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.  However, interest on the public debt is poised to become the largest and fastest growing entitlement over the next 30 years. 

Centrists.Org A Preliminary Analysis of Sen. Graham's Social Security Proposal (November 18, 2003)  The reform proposal introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is serious and worthy of bipartisan consideration.  

Centrists.Org Raising the Cap on Payroll Taxes Doesn't Solve the Social Security Problem (November 17, 2003)  Raising the cap on annual earnings subject to the payroll tax ($87,000 in 2003) would simply defer Social Security's cash-flow problem by a few years -- it isn't a permanent solution.

CentristPolicyNetwork.Org Put Social Security Reform in the President's Budget (November 17, 2003)  Until the President and Congress allocate funds for the transition costs of reform in their budgets, the Social Security debate won't be taken seriously.

Centrists.Org Suggestions for Income Testing in Social Insurance Programs (October 27, 2003)

CentristPolicyNetwork.Org A Challenge To Both Left and Right on Social Security Reform (September 16, 2003)  The left shouldn't automatically scorn Social Security reform, but the right must figure out how to pay for its large transition costs.

Centrists.Org Issue Summary:  Wealth Building (Basics) "Basic" Issue Summaries contain a quick reference to Centrists.Org policy ideas.

Centrists.Org Issue Summary:  Social Security  "Detailed" Issue Summaries are an up-to-date, on-line reference on topics studied by Centrists.Org.