Social Security in the Slow Lane

I've got a post over at the Enterprise blog about an new Social Security Commission proposal. The piece discusses the scare tactics being used to undermine the commission approach. There are legitimate concerns about the current commission approach. In an open letter, members of the Greenspan Commission staff raise some excellent ones, such as membership design.

Yet both open letter and the NCPSSM video in my Enterprise post, are wrong to focus two much on the speed of the commission as a negative. This speed is all in the voting process. By forcing Congress to vote, members have to take a position on each proposal. Sure that's going to be quick but drafting the proposals will take time. Plus, the range of options is limited.

If Congress feels unsettled by a proposal, they can vote no. But members would rather just not vote at all.

The Tax that Wasn't

I've got a post over at the Enterprise blog today on the Social Security earnings test. I'm propsing the unconvential approach that misunderstanding about the test could actually cause people to work longer.