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Posted: 1/8/2013 9:43:26 AM EST
European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Laszlo Andor addresses the media, at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013. The European Union's employment chief sees the financial crisis creating a ''new divide'' between the north and south, deepened by record unemployment and a fraying social security net which are unlikely to improve in 2013. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)
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Posted: 1/8/2013 9:43:26 AM EST
European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Laszlo Andor addresses the media, at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013. The European Union's employment chief sees the financial crisis creating a ''new divide'' between the north and south, deepened by record unemployment and a fraying social security net which are unlikely to improve in 2013. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)
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Posted: 1/8/2013 9:43:26 AM EST
European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Laszlo Andor walks in to address the media, at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013. The European Union's employment chief sees the financial crisis creating a ''new divide'' between the north and south, deepened by record unemployment and a fraying social security net which are unlikely to improve in 2013. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)
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Posted: 12/5/2012 8:43:34 PM EST
FILE - In this Nov. 15, 2010 file photo, Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue answers questions in Akron, Ohio. In an effort to ease the burden of being stricken with a debilitating condition, the Social Security Administration is expanding a program that fast-tracks disability claims by people who get serious illnesses such as cancer, early-onset Alzheimer's and Lou Gehrig's disease — claims that could take months or years to approve in the past. The Compassionate Allowances program approves many claims for a select group of conditions within a few days, Astrue said. The program is being expanded Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012 to include a total of 200 diseases and conditions. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)
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Posted: 12/3/2012 6:18:22 PM EST
Federal agents investigate an apparent bomb explosion at the Social Security Administration office on Marshall Street in downtown Casa Grande, Ariz. on Friday, Nov. 30, 2012. No one was hurt in the explosion. (AP Photo/Casa Grande Dispatch, Oscar Perez)
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Posted: 12/3/2012 3:18:30 PM EST
FILE - This Nov. 29, 2012 file photo shows House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. House Republicans negotiating with President Barack Obama on avoiding the so-called fiscal cliff are proposing to increase the eligibility age for Medicare and to lower cost-of-living hikes in Social Security benefits. Boehner said the GOP proposal is a "credible plan" for Obama and that he hopes the administration would "respond in a timely and responsible way." (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
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Posted: 11/30/2012 12:53:21 PM EST
Police investigate an apparent bomb explosion at the Social Security Administration office on Marshall Street in downtown Casa Grande, Ariz. on Friday, Nov. 30, 2012. No one was hurt in the explosion and federal authorities are conducting the investigation. (AP Photo/Casa Grande Dispatch, Steven King)
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Posted: 11/10/2012 4:13:41 AM EST
File- This Aug. 4, 2010 file photo shows President Barack Obama standing with AFL-CIO Presidet Richard Trumka after he spoke about jobs and the economy at the AFL-CIO Executive Council in Washington. “There are things the president can do, and we'll be expecting that leadership from President Obama," Trumka told reporters after the election. Topping the list, for now, is a push to raise taxes on wealthy Americans and discouraging Obama from agreeing to any deal with Republicans over the looming "fiscal cliff" that cuts into Social Security and Medicare benefits. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
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Posted: 11/3/2012 12:23:23 PM EST
In this September 2012 photo provided by the Iowa Farm Bureau, farmer Randy Dreher uses a combine to harvest one of his corn fields north of Audubon, Iowa. Dreher says agriculture is enjoying its best days since he was born in 1980. "If you can't make it in farming now, you'll never make it in farming," he says. "If you can't make money, find something else to do." And yet, he sees clouds in the larger economic picture. "I think about the debt and Social Security and Medicare. Where all those dollars are going to come from is very alarming to me," Dreher says. "It's like going to the bank every day, knowing you're overextended and have to pay it back someday. ... We can't borrow ourselves into oblivion." (AP Photo/Iowa Farm Bureau, Gary Fandel)
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Posted: 10/23/2012 12:53:19 PM EST
FILE - In this Dec. 20, 2011, file photo President Barack Obama speaks during the news briefing at the White House. Unless Congress acts, the trust funds that support Social Security will run out of money in 2033, according to the trustees who oversee the retirement and disability program. Obama hasn’t laid out a detailed plan for addressing Social Security. He's called for bipartisan talks on strengthening the program but he didn’t embrace the plan produced by a bipartisan deficit reduction panel he created in 2010. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
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Posted: 10/21/2012 11:33:30 AM EST
Chart shows increase in Social Security tax in 2013 for various income levels
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Posted: 10/21/2012 10:03:28 AM EST
FILE - In this Aug. 27, 2012 file photo, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, talks to reporters on the floor of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. A temporary reduction in Social Security payroll taxes is due to expire at the end of the year and hardly anyone in Washington is pushing to extend it. Neither Obama nor Romney has proposed an extension, and it probably wouldn’t get through Congress anyway, with lawmakers in both parties down on the idea. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
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Posted: 10/21/2012 10:03:28 AM EST
FILE - In this July 26, 2012, file photo, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, before the Senate Banking Committee. A temporary reduction in Social Security payroll taxes is due to expire at the end of the year and hardly anyone in Washington is pushing to extend it. Neither Obama nor Romney has proposed an extension, and it probably wouldn’t get through Congress anyway, with lawmakers in both parties down on the idea. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File)
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Posted: 10/21/2012 10:03:28 AM EST
FILE - In this Sept. 13, 2012 file photo, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. A temporary reduction in Social Security payroll taxes is due to expire at the end of the year and hardly anyone in Washington is pushing to extend it. Neither Obama nor Romney has proposed an extension, and it probably wouldn’t get through Congress anyway, with lawmakers in both parties down on the idea. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
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Posted: 10/21/2012 10:03:28 AM EST
FILE - In this Feb. 1, 2012 file photo, House Ways and Means Committee member, Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, left, makes a comment during a meeting of the Payroll Tax conferees, on Capitol Hill in Washington. A temporary reduction in Social Security payroll taxes is due to expire at the end of the year and hardly anyone in Washington is pushing to extend it. Neither Obama nor Romney has proposed an extension, and it probably wouldn’t get through Congress anyway, with lawmakers in both parties down on the idea. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. David Camp, R-Mich. listens at right. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
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Posted: 10/21/2012 10:03:28 AM EST
FILE - In this Oct. 11, 2012 file photo, Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. speaks during the vice presidential debate with Vice President Joe Biden at Centre Colleg, in Danville, Ky. A temporary reduction in Social Security payroll taxes is due to expire at the end of the year and hardly anyone in Washington is pushing to extend it. Neither Obama nor Romney has proposed an extension, and it probably wouldn’t get through Congress anyway, with lawmakers in both parties down on the idea. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
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Posted: 10/16/2012 10:58:39 AM EST
FILE - This Feb. 2005 file photo shows trays of printed social security checks, in Philadelphia, waiting to be mailed from the U.S. Treasury. More than 56 million Social Security recipients will see their monthly payments go up by 1.7 percent next year. The increase, which starts in January, is tied to a measure of inflation released Tuesday. It shows that inflation has been relatively low over the past year _ despite the recent surge in gas prices _ resulting in one of the smallest increases in Social Security payments since automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975. (AP Photo/Bradley C. Bower, File)
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Posted: 10/15/2012 4:33:27 AM EST
FILE - In this Feb. 11, 2005, file photo rolls of blank social security checks run through printers and are processed at the U.S. Treasury's Financial Management services facility in Philadelphia. Social Security recipients shouldn't expect a big increase in monthly benefits come January. Preliminary figures show the annual benefit boost will be between 1 percent and 2 percent, which would be among the lowest since automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975. (AP Photo/Bradley C Bower, file)
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Posted: 10/14/2012 9:13:25 AM EST
FILE - This Aug. 1, 2012 file photo shows Janice Durflinger at her workplace in Lincoln, Neb., Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012. The 56 million people who get Social Security benefits shouldn’t expect a big increase in their monthly payments next year. The cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, is determined by a government measure of inflation, and the measure shows that consumer prices have barely increased over the past year _ a revelation that might come as a surprise to seniors who spend more of their income on health care than younger adults. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)
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Posted: 10/14/2012 9:13:25 AM EST
In this photo taken Aug. 1, 2012, Janice Durflinger poses for a photo at her workplace in Lincoln, Neb. Durflinger, who runs computer software programs for a bank, says she still works at 76, “because I have to.” Social Security recipients shouldn't expect a big increase in monthly benefits come January. Preliminary figures show the annual benefit boost will be between 1 percent and 2 percent, which would be among the lowest since automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975. Monthly benefits for retired workers now average $1,237, meaning the typical retiree can expect a raise of between $12 and $24 a month. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
