Endless Excuses About Social Security Tiring
Although there are many important issues facing our nation, I view the impending Social Security crisis as one of the most serious.
Unless a move is made to shore up the program before 2033, Social Security Trustees project that retirees will see a reduction in benefits of approximately 23% at that time. (See: Trustees Report Summary).
The reason for this is simple.
Social Security is a pay-as-you-go program, sustained through FICA taxes, paid by working people and their employers.
For years, the number of people working far outnumbered the people drawing benefits, so the program ran a surplus and the excess funds were placed into the OASDI Social Security Trust fund.
However, in the last few years the number of baby boomers retiring has brought us to a place in which the amount being paid to retirees has exceeded what is being taken in.
The trust fund is now being drawn down to cover the shortfall.
Roughly $67 billion was drawn from the main trust fund in 2024 in order to pay out benefits. (More here: Is Social Security running out? | USAFacts)
Currently, there are over 69 million people drawing Social Security benefits, and that number is expected to be around 82 million in 2033.
These people depend on this benefit for part, or in some cases all, of their retirement.
A 23% cut in benefits would be devastating to these families. I believe such a cut would also be catastrophic to our economy. (Read more: What the Data Says about Social Security | Pew Research Center, Social Security Reform: Options to Adjust Benefits)
This is one reason I stress the need to save Social Security with everyone I meet, especially lawmakers. It saddens me to report that many lawmakers agree that there is a problem, only to then begin making excuses as to why they can't lead an effort in Congress to solve this problem.
I spoke to one U.S. House member who said Congress can't fix Social Security because it's an "entitlement."
He said this as if he was uttering a negative word describing a benefit being paid out to people who didn't earn it.
He was wrong!
To receive the benefit, people must have paid into the system, as required by law.
It's only an entitlement in the sense that people earned it, so they are truly entitled to receive it.
Another congressman said they can't touch Social Security because it is the "third rail" issue (the third rail of politics).
This is not only sad, I believe it's also wrong.
Think about it, fixing Social Security will automatically make over 69 million Americans extremely happy about not facing an impending cut.
Additionally, their family members will also be happy knowing their parents and grandparents will not have to face a financial hardship with which they will likely need help.
A third U.S. House member mentioned that he's a deficit hawk and said Social Security is adding to the debt.
This too wrong!
As stated earlier, benefits are paid through FICA taxes collected specifically for funding Social Security, which is currently being supplemented by the OASDI Trust Fund.
The only way that Social Security would ever add to the debt is if Congress refused to fix the program and instead appropriated money out of the general fund to avoid seeing retirees face a
benefit cut when the trust fund runs out. (Additional details: Social Security and the Federal Deficit: Not cause and effect | Economic Policy Institute)
In my opinion, there are two very bad decisions that Congress could make with respect to Social Security. The first would be to refuse to fix the program.
The second is to make it a partial entitlement where we borrow the money to pay for it, which makes our grandkids and great grandchildren pay the bill.
Fortunately, Congress has the ability to make a very good choice in this matter, if they will only choose to follow a precedent set by President Ronald Reagan.
During the early 1980s, Reagan established a bipartisan commission to make recommendations to extend the solvency of Social Security.
The commission members successfully developed recommendations, which were adopted by Congress. This extended the solvency of the program by half a century.
Our current Congress should either convince President Trump to appoint such a commission or move to appoint a commission on their own.
If they handle this correctly, they can build a bipartisan consensus on how to fix a program upon which almost 70 million Americans depend.
However, I'm not encouraged that this will happen naturally based on prior discussions that I have had with members of Congress, but we all know that these folks do respond when they begin hearing from their constituents in large numbers.
I encourage you to contact your congressional representatives and senators to tell them you want to see such a commission and that you expect them to take appropriate action to make it happen.
For more information, please visit www.JoeFromTexas.com.
Joe from Texas is a family man with children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. He's experienced tremendous success and lived the American Dream. His beliefs are both straightforward and deeply held. He believes in God, his family, and the United States of America. Read Joe Penland's Reports — More Here.