Washington -- Some Senate Republicans have reportedly been reviewing proposals for raising the Social Security retirement age, while at the same time, restraining future benefits for Americans in higher income brackets.
According to reports, several GOP members of the Senate Finance Committee attended a meeting chaired by chairman Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who outlined proposals to overhaul the wheezing 70-year-old federal program.
Among the suggestions reviewed were a gradual increase in the retirement age and measures to hold the line on benefit costs to higher wage earners retiring in the future.
However the strategies excluded President Bush's call for the creation of personal retirement accounts -- one of the cornerstones of the president oft-controversial reform plan.
In addition to the president's proposal, there are roughly seven pieces of Social Security reform legislation currently floating in Congress, including Ferrara-Ryan, Diamond Orszag and Kolbe-Boyd.
