The ‘Gang of Six’ on Social Security and The Federal Deficit

Have you heard of the “Gang of Six” yet? It’s a group of six bipartisan senators who have outlined a plan to cut the federal deficit by $3.7 trillion over the next decade. And their timing is impeccable, with the U.S. government set to begin defaulting on its loans on August 3.

Not all of what they say is palatable to the masses, but here’s the bit about Social Security that we think you’d be interested in:

The Gang of Six—comprised of Kent Conrad, Dick Durbin, Mark Warner, Saxby Chambliss, Tom Coburn, and Mike Crapo—proposes to reform Social Security for future generations by ensuring that Social Security remains solvent for the next 75 years and offering a decennial review of the program to make sure it remains solvent. According to their plan, the idea would be to reform Social Security on a “separate track, isolated from deficit reduction.”

The Gang of Six supports a switch to the chained-CPI when calculating cost-of-living for Social Security beneficiaries, but they want to wait five years before making this change. The senators say they only want Social Security reform to come up for discussion once their comprehensive deficit reduction bill has received 60 votes.

Do you support the Gang of Six’s proposal?

If you need help with your Social Security Disability benefits, contact the Social Security Disability lawyers at Fleschner, Stark, Tanoos & Newlin.