An elegant idea for Social Security

Ellen Goodman, a Pulitzer prize winning journalist who writes for the Washington Post and Boston Globe, has reported on a stunningly simple and appropriate proposal I hadn't heard of before. There's no way of abbreviating what she said without losing substance, so here it is, with emphasis added:

One of the best-kept secrets is that we have already raised the age of full retirement to 65 1/2. It's increasing gradually until 2027, when it will be 67. Raising the retirement age further is nothing but an attempt, in economist Alicia Munnell's phrase "to find a socially acceptable way of cutting benefits." Before this gets out of hand, we have to ask whether this is the best reform. We also have to ask why it's becoming more socially acceptable to target older Americans than richer Americans.

Want to talk about age and class? Try two other proposals for Social Security reform. The first is to raise the ceiling on earnings over $90,000. The second and most elegant idea comes from nonagenarian and former Social Security Commissioner Robert Ball: designate the estate tax to shore up Social Security.

Under current law, the tax will only apply to estates worth more than $3.5 million by 2009. But two months ago, the House voted to permanently repeal the entire estate tax and the Senate is fiddling with compromise efforts.

A tax repeal on the richest 2 percent of Americans would cost $745 billion in the first 10 years. Using that money to support Social Security instead of an oligarchy would make up a third of the shortfall.

As she says, an elegant idea.