“But folks pay into Social Security for their entire working careers. They expect the promise to be kept.”
The Supreme Court in cases that had to review the Social Security law has said more than once Social Security has NO “guarantee” - NONE.
No aspect of the Social Security benefit is “guaranteed”, not the specific benefit amount, the retirement age needed for a maximum benefit, the formula for the benefit or the cost of living adjustment. Everything is able to be adjusted by additional acts of Congress, and in fact Congress has enacted many changes over the years.
People always complain that any adjustment of Social Secuirty is intended to “take away Social Security”. That is historically and currently political scare tactics most of all.
I agree with your post.
However, the key word in my post was “expect”. Folks expect to get what the were promised, even if that promise can legally be broken.
If the GOP wants to mess around with Social Security, they are free to do so. And it might even help the country. But it will also mint many more Democrats.