The $60 trillion unfunded liability is correct today. The lower number is predicated on Obamacare's impact, which we have yet to see since it has not been implemented fully yet. I give more credence to the Trustee's report.
Also they are not liabilities as they can be changed by congress at anytime. But that one’s more of a semantic disagreement.
Yes, they can be changed at any time to reduce benefits and increase taxes as was done in 1983 when SS went in the red. SS has been in the red now since 2010. It will stay permanently in the red until it is reformed.
Source: CBO "Combined OASDI Trust Funds; January 2011 Baseline" 26 Jan 2011. Note: See "Primary Surplus" line (which is negative, indicating a deficit)
Matters are even worse than this chart shows. In December, Congress passed a Social Security tax reduction. Workers are temporarily paying 2 percentage points less, from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent, in Social Security payroll taxes this calendar year. Since the government is making up the shortfall out of general revenues, CBO’s deficit projections for the trust funds do not include that. But CBO’s figures predict that the "payroll tax holiday" will cost the government’s general fund $85 billion in this fiscal year and $29 billion in fiscal year 2012 (which starts Oct.1, 2011.) Since every dollar of that will have to be borrowed, the combined effect of the " tax holiday" and the annual deficits will amount to a $130 billion addition to the federal deficit in the current fiscal year, and $59 billion in fiscal 2012.
Social Security has passed a tipping point. For years it generated more revenue than it consumed, holding down the overall federal deficit and allowing Congress to spend more freely for other things. But those days are gone. Rather than lessening the federal deficit, Social Security has at last — as long predicted — become a drag on the government’s overall finances.
Of course something needs to be done to reign (sic) in healthcare costs. Obamacare is what we have to deal with right now. I still don’t understand why Republicans hate it since it’s basically a Heritage Foundation plan. I would have been much happier with a true single-payer system and the ability to control prescription drug prices.
Ah, now I understand where you are coming from. You are a socialist who believes in nationalized healthcare. I have seen it firsthand in Europe. It doesn't work. And it will devour the federal budget and ruin the quality of healthcare. There will be less access and more bureaucracy.
As PJ O'Rourke has said, "If you think healthcare is expensive now, wait until it is free."
Have a good day.