You must have drunk the Dem Kool-aid. SS is a pay as you go system. In 1982 SS was paying out more than it was taking in. Therefore, the General Fund had to start redeeming the non-market T-bills in the SS Trust Fund to pay benefits. Thus, Congress has to come up with the money to redeem the T-bills either by raising taxes or cutting spending. They decided to increase taxes, force all new federal employees into the system, and reduce benefits including raising the retirement age for full benefits from 65 to 67.
Here is the evolution of the SS tax rate since its inception.
Here is the evolution of the cap.
Reagan and Tip O'Neill struck a Faustian bargain so that they could return SS into a cash cow. It was as simple as that. SS is unsustainable as currently structured. It is actuarially unsound. Even if you buy the charade that the SSTF contains real assets, the system will still go broke in 2041. You have to raise taxes and/or reduce benefits.
Social Security Board of Trustees Issues Annual Report
"Over the 75-year period, the Trust Funds would require additional revenue equivalent to $4.7 trillion in today’s dollars to pay all scheduled benefits. This unfunded obligation is about $100 billion higher than the amount estimated last year."
"“Social Security provides valuable economic protection to workers and their families. We owe it to the American public to continue to offer the best possible support for older Americans, people with disabilities and their families in the coming decades,” said Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security. “The Trustees Report is an important tool for those in the legislative and executive branches who will have to make the very difficult decisions about how best to ensure Social Security remains viable for the long term.”
SS has not been on pay as you go at least since then.
SS has been a pay as you go system. No change was made in 1983 in that regard.
Disagree. The existence of the SS IOUs in Galena IL show that there is an excess.
The government is accounting for the redemption of these IOUs to keep the system current until 2025 or so. That means they’ll have to raise taxes big time to redeem the IOUs.