January 05, 2011
January 2011, Dean Baker and Kris Warner
In November, Colorado Senator Michael Bennet was interviewed on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition by Renee Montagne. In the course of the interview, Senator Bennet told Ms. Montagne that, as a 45-year old, he would get no Social Security benefit if the program is not fixed. This is not true.
CEPR has prepared a table showing the scheduled Social Security benefit for each member of the Senate. It also shows the payable benefit, assuming that the projections for the program prove accurate, and Congress never makes any changes to Social Security. (It has made numerous changes in prior decades.)
This table is intended to help the Senators in preparing their personal finances. It should also help to inform them in making decisions about the future of the program. And, hopefully it will prevent them from misleading the public as Senator Bennet did.
