Commentators urge changes to Social Security's 3.6 percent cost-of-living increase

Commentators are calling for changes to Social Security's cost-of-living adjustment, which this year gives beneficiaries a 3.6 percent increase. One argument is that the boost should be cancelled, or at least that the formula used to calculate the annual adjustment should be changed. Another is that the adjustment will soon threaten the program's solvency, and that protecting seniors from poverty is a different goal from paying six-figure benefits to the highest-income households. The available material does not say whether any formal proposal is pending, and it gives no further detail on how the formula would change.

As of this writing, left-leaning outlets tracked by Crosswire had not reported this story, while alternative/independent and right-leaning outlets had. The alternative/independent coverage, from Reason, leads with the case for cancelling this year's increase or changing how it is calculated. The right-leaning coverage, from National Review, focuses on the program's finances and on whether top-income households should receive large benefits. Both sides question the current adjustment, and both frame it as a matter of reform.