Congress Has No Plan For Keeping Social Security Solvent 

For years now, the alarm bells have been ringing regarding the Social Security trust hitting its go-broke date. While this summer has seen a group of congressmembers working to craft legislation to address the issue, another segment doesn’t believe it’s a real problem at all. 

Politico reports that the Social Security fund is set to be drained by 2032. This will reduce monthly payments by 20%, averaging about $500 per person. This would affect tens of millions of U.S. citizens who rely on Social Security benefits to stay afloat. This is not surprising news, as the Congressional Budget Office has continually moved up its projections of the trust’s go-broke date over the last year. 

“This train wreck is going to happen,” Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) said in an interview. “So as early as six years from now, we’re going to have to have a plan. And of course, I’m a big believer that we need to deal with it now, or we need to start the process of dealing with it now.”

According to AP, outgoing Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) have been working to craft a solution that will keep the trust solvent for the next 50 years. “We’ve been at this six years, eight years. It’s incredible how long I’ve been at it,” Cassidy told AP. “But Durbin came up to me, and he goes, ’Bill, I’m leaving the Senate soon. We need to take a ride at it.’”

The measure they’re proposing would create a Social Security Advisory Board to collect public input and submit draft legislation to Congress that would keep the program’s retirement trust fund solvent for at least 50 years. So it’s not necessarily a fix, but a road map to potentially getting to a fix. 

Another idea that’s been floated by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) is lifting the income cap on Social Security. As it currently stands, the Social Security payroll tax only applies to people making under $184,000, which is a fact I just learned and am now very angry about. 

“Why should a middle-class nurse pay a larger share of her paycheck than a wealthy corporate lawyer?” the two senators wrote in The New York Times. Because how are the ultra-wealthy going to buy another mega yacht if they have to contribute a fraction of a fraction of their wealth to the Social Security trust? 

Unsurprisingly, President Donald Trump hasn’t made addressing the quickly approaching go-broke date a priority. House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) recalled discussing the issue with Trump during his first term as president. “He said, ‘Tom, I’ll be for this the first day of my second term,’” Cole told reporters this summer about his effort to get Trump to push for a solution. “Well, we’re here.”

White House spokesperson Liz Huston said in a statement that Trump “will always protect and strengthen Social Security” and noted that the “big, beautiful bill” enacted last summer created a temporary tax deduction for people 65 and older that can be put toward reducing taxes owed on Social Security benefits.

“Under his leadership, there will be zero reductions to Social Security payments,” she said. Notice how she didn’t say that he will take steps to make sure there are no reductions after his presidency. Why be proactive about an issue if you can just pass the buck on to someone else? 

“Your Social Security is safe. You can write that down and take it home to mama,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said at an event this summer. “All we got to do is go take the money out of the general fund, which we always do.”

It’s not as easy as Kennedy makes it sound. Taking money out of the general fund requires approval from Congress, and I don’t know if you knew this, but the United States is at peak broke right now. Earlier this month, the national debt hit $40 trillion, surpassing our economic output. The unnecessary, prolonged conflict with Iran also isn’t helping.

I’ve been hearing about Social Security potentially going insolvent ever since I was in college, yet it seems like Congress has spent the last decade kicking the can down the road. So now we’re six years out from the trust going insolvent, with no effective fix in sight. Don’t you just love how our public servants show no urgency when it comes to serving the public? 

SEE ALSO:

Social Security Trust Estimated To Run Out Even Earlier Than Expected

Social Security Projected To “Go-Broke” Earlier Than Expected

Congress Struggling To Find Plan For Keeping Social Security Solvent  was originally published on newsone.com