Martin O'Malley to campaign on expansion of social security.

Democratic hopeful will lay out goal of ensuring within two terms of office that 50% of Americans have enough retirement savings.

The Democratic presidential hopeful Martin O’Malley is to unveil a detailed plan to expand social security on Friday.

In a white paper shared with the Guardian, the former Maryland governor calls for expanding social security benefits and raising the payroll tax used to fund the government retirement program so that all income above $250,000 is taxable. Currently the threshold on earnings subject to the social security tax is set at $118,500. The O’Malley campaign would create a “doughnut hole”, exempting income over $118,500 and below $250,000 from taxation. The overall goal of O’Malley’s plan is to “increase the number of Americans with adequate retirement savings by 50% within two terms in office”.

O’Malley also expresses his support for a number of other progressive goals including the controversial “fiduciary rule” recently introduced by the Department of Labor which requires financial advisers to provide advice “in the best interest of their clients” as well as changing how cost of living adjustments are calculated to provide increased benefits to retirees.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/21/martin-omalley-to-campaign-on-expansion-of-social-security