Debates over Social Security and Medicare reform cannot continue inside the Washington, D.C., vacuum without "adequate consideration to facts," writes Thomas B. Edsall in a recent New York Times op-ed. Yet that's exactly what is happening—not to mention "reform" inside the beltway means "cut" for policymakers trying to forge grand budget bargains.

Edsall writes the facts being overlooked include the following: 

Two-thirds of Americans who are above the age of 65 depend on an average annual Social Security benefit of $15,168.36 for at least half of their income.

Income higher than $113,700 is not subject to the payroll tax, writes Edsall. By eliminating this cap and closing this large loophole for the wealthiest taxpayers, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates this will close Social Security's future funding shortfall. 

Cutting benefits is frequently discussed in the halls of Congress, in research institutes and by analysts and columnists. The idea of subjecting earned income above $113,700 to the Social Security payroll tax and making the Medicare tax more progressive—steps that would affect only the relatively affluent—is largely missing from the policy conversation.

The Washington cognoscenti are more inclined to discuss two main approaches that are far less costly for the affluent: means-testing of benefits and raising the age of eligibility for Social Security and Medicare. (Sidenote: Policymakers and national journalists who weigh in on this issue generally earn more than $113,700 a year.) Means-testing and raising the age of eligibility as methods of cutting spending appeal to ideological conservatives for a number of reasons.

Means-testing, Edsall writes, is the wrong option since Social Security and Medicare would switch from universal social insurance lifelines to welfare. "Public support would almost certainly decline, encouraging further cuts in the future," writes Edsall. 

Read the rest of Edsall's The War On Entitlements. 

Closing the payroll tax cap loophole is a reasonable change that the majority of America's workers support across party lines. This commonsense viewpoint is rarely ever mentioned in mainstream media outlets owned by millionaires and billionaires who crusade for cutting benefits on the middle class and the nation's most vulnerable people. Even The Washington Post, where Edsall was a longtime reporter, consistently attacks Social Security and fails to acknowledge Edsall's points. 

Working families are calling on Congress to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid from benefit cuts (i.e., raising the retirement age and the "chained" CPI), repeal the sequester and close tax loopholes for corporations and the wealthiest 2%.