Bob Kerrey: “Two percentage points, that is correct. Not 2 percent of the 12.4; but 2 percentage points overall, from 12.4 to 10.4…”

“Two percentage points, that is correct. Not 2 percent of the 12.4; but 2 percentage points overall, from 12.4 to 10.4 percent. Under current law, a substantial increase in the publicly-held debt will occur. In addition, there is a problem with the existing program in that low-income-earning beneficiaries do not have enough of their income replaced by the current benefit formulas. The Social Security reform proposal that I have introduced with a bipartisan group of Senators increases benefits for low income workers by changing these benefit formulas. I hear lots of my colleagues, especially on this side of the aisle, talk a lot about the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. It is true that the gap is widening, but if you want to solve the problem, you cannot do it just by increasing the minimum wage or increasing the earned-income tax credit. You have to change the law so people of all incomes have the opportunity to generate wealth. The current Social Security program does not offer that opportunity. Our proposal would. Finally, there is growing intergenerational inequity in our Federal budget.”