Comparing three different plans to expand benefits and improve the system’s finances.

The Los Angeles Times’ Michael Hiltzik takes a look the just-released plan from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and how it differs from two proposals introduced in Congress, the Social Security 2100 Act, introduced by Rep. John B. Larson (D-Conn.), and the Social Security Expansion Act, filed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — one of Warren’s rivals for the presidential nomination — and Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore).

Hiltzik correctly notes that “all three proposals take aim at some of the same issues, such as the chronic shortchanging of women who spend their career years caring for dependents at home and the need to extract more tax support from the wealthiest Americans, but offer somewhat different solutions.”

Even with their differences, all three plans are “a solid rebuff to Republicans and conservatives whose hand-wringing about Social Security leads to proposals to cut benefits. Warren’s entry into the lists as a presidential candidate ensures that the debate will take place in the public sphere — not, as Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) advocated recently, ‘behind closed doors.'”

Full story: Los Angeles Times