Let's propose entitlement cuts in an election year. I agree, this is why the GOP is the stupid party.
Something has to be done as soon, but now isn't the time -- because Obama will simply demagogue the GOP until they cave. And then no one will touch it after the election.
The real problem is displayed repeatedly in this thread: most people simply don't want to understand why Social Security is in a crisis. All they want to do is repeat memes like:
- They stole Social Security! No, they didn't. Social Security invested the excess taxes into the equivalent of US Treasury Bonds. It is now being paid back, with interest at the same rates as US Treasury Bonds.
- If they had invested it, there would be no problem! No, they did invest it: in the equivalent of US Treasury Bonds. It was considered the safest investment in the world, until recently (thanks to Obama threatening to default). And think about it: if it had been invested in anything else, it would have been a huge political football, with special interest groups pressuring Congress to avoid certain companies and prefer others. It would have been crony capitalism at its worse.
- It's my money! No, it's not. Your contributions were paid to your parents and grandparents long ago. Your benefits will be paid from contributions by your children and grandchildren. That's how it has always been.
- What about all those people on disability? That's certainly a problem, and it's why the Disability Trust Fund will be exhausted next year. But, old age and survivor (OASI) benefits are in a separate trust fund, and it will still be exhausted around 2033.
- What about all those people on Supplemental Security Income (SSI)? SSI is administrated by Social Security, but it is funded from federal income taxes, not Social Security taxes.
- All they need to do is tweak benefits/taxes/eligibility a little bit. The opportunity for small tweaks is long past. It will take massive changes to make up the shortfall: a combination of tax increases and benefit cuts. I cited a couple of proposals evaluated by the SSA in this thread -- follow the links, and you can see how well your favorite one would work.
There are other memes, but these are the popular -- and especially wrong -- ones. They are all indicators of people that don't want to face the truth. Here's the truth:
If nothing is done, Social Security benefits will be cut by about 23% around 2033.
Did that get anyone's attention? I didn't make that up: that's what the Social Security Administration has been saying for at least a decade, if you had been paying attention. The percentage and the year have been getting slowly worse.
The reason why: when the Trust Fund is exhausted, Social Security must reduce benefits to a level that can be sustained by the incoming revenue. They don't have a choice. They can't borrow money.
There's no money to be put back. It wasn't stolen: it was paid to earlier generations, at a rate that can't be sustained. You can thank Congress for that. And when Social Security was supposedly saved in the 80's, the demographic and economic assumptions turned out to be hopelessly optimistic. It actually turns out that the PESSIMISTIC assumptions were optimistic.
This is what the GOP has to explain, in as simple terms as possible, and repeat it loudly and often. The lamestream media won't cover it - they have to take it to the alternative and social media.
There will still be people that won't accept the truth. You can see examples of them on this thread. But for the sake of everyone, it has to be said, and action taken before it is too late.