The SAFE Solution to Entitlement Reform
With Keynote Presentations by Representatives Jim Cooper and Frank Wolf
Kevin A. Hassett, Andrew G. Biggs
April 29, 2009
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America's finances face massive challenges from rising entitlement costs. New legislation introduced by Representatives Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) and Frank Wolf (R-Va.) seeks to create a bipartisan commission to correct our long-term fiscal challenges. The recession puts additional strain on entitlements as unemployment decreases revenues and more people claim benefits. The recession could cause Social Security to begin running deficits as early as 2011, years sooner than the previously projected date of 2017. The bill, Securing America's Future Economy Commission Act (SAFE), which has cosponsors on both sides of the aisle, would require Congress to vote up or down on each recommendation of the bipartisan committee rather than passing on issues.

At this event, Representatives Cooper and Wolf will outline SAFE's ability to improve America's finances. Henry Aaron of the Brookings Institution; AEI's Andrew G. Biggs; and Chuck Blahous, the executive director of President George W. Bush's Social Security Commission, will discuss the SAFE plan. AEI's Kevin A. Hassett will moderate.

About the Author

 

Kevin A.
Hassett
  • Before joining AEI, Mr. Hassett was a senior economist at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and an associate professor of economics and finance at the Graduate School of Business of Columbia University, as well as a policy consultant to the Treasury Department during the George H. W. Bush and Clinton administrations. He served as an economic adviser to the George W. Bush 2004 presidential campaign and as Senator John McCain's chief economic adviser during the 2000 presidential primaries. He also served as a senior economic adviser to the McCain 2008 presidential campaign. Mr. Hassett is a columnist for National Review.

  • Phone: 202-862-7157
    Email: khassett@aei.org

  • Assistant Info

    Name: Veronika Polakova
    Phone: 202-862-4880
    Email: veronika.polakova@aei.org
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Andrew G.
Biggs
  • Andrew G. Biggs is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC. Prior to joining AEI he was the principal deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA), where he oversaw SSA's policy research efforts and led the agency's participation in the Social Security Trustees working group. In 2005 he worked on Social Security reform at the National Economic Council and in 2001 was on the staff of the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security. Andrew’s work at AEI focuses on Social Security reform, state and local government pensions, and comparisons of public and private sector compensation. His work has appeared in academic publications as well as outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Washington Post, and he has testified before Congress on numerous occasions. He holds a Bachelors degree from the Queen's University of Belfast, Masters degrees from Cambridge University and the University of London and a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics.
  • Phone: 202-862-5841
    Email: andrew.biggs@aei.org

  • Assistant Info

    Name: Rohan Poojara
    Phone: 202-862-5852
    Email: rohan.poojara@aei.org
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