Posted on 02/19/2023 7:20:20 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Social Security and Medicare are on an “unsustainable course” and will run out of funds by 2037. That’s the conclusion reached by the General Accountability Office (GAO) and the Social Security Administration.
There is no saving these programs without massive changes. And demagoguing the issue, as Joe Biden and the Democrats are doing, only delays the day of reckoning. To pretend these programs don’t need intervention now — right now — is to play with dynamite. The sooner we can get started, the less pain will be inflicted on senior citizens.
Pain there will be. In order to put these programs on the path to long-term viability, it will take political courage absent from today’s politicians.
Veronique de Rugy has been the Paul Revere on Social Security unsustainability for as long as I’ve been writing. Her article in Reason.com explains the problems with the two biggest government programs plainly and succinctly.
It’s important for people to grasp reality because no single issue will affect our fiscal future more than Social Security and Medicare. Spending on these two programs alone consumes 45 percent of the federal budget. Along with Medicaid, these programs are the drivers of our current and future debt. And to drive home the seriousness of our predicament, note that Medicare and Social Security together face a shortfall of $116 trillion over the next 30 years.
That’s more than five times the current gross domestic product. But Biden wants to demonize Republicans for trying to address these long-term problems?
There is no political consensus on what to do about these two programs. Democrats want to raise the retirement age and charge retirees more for Medicare. That’s a bandaid that won’t even extend the viability of the programs for much more than a decade.
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
The Republican Party; “playing catch up since 1865.”
Here’s what I would like to know:
IS THERE A WAY OF SAVINGSOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE WITHOUT HAVING TO CUT ANYTHING FOR THOSe WHO ARE RETIRE OR NEAR RETIREMENT?
All I’m hearing so far are patchwork solutions. We need a fully integrated plan to solve this problem.
The Supreme Court said that much in a ruling in 1960.
Fleming vs Nestor
The Court ruled that there is no contractual right to receive Social Security payments.
SS and Medicare running out of money.......stop the bull shit. We have billions for foreign countries that hate us,government waste etc. our corrupt politicians better start realigning their priorities, and stop putting fear into the hearts of the American people.
The way it works when politicians say “cut”:
It means in this case, if you get $X today, you will not be getting $X- $Y tomorrow.
Rather the rate of increase of $X will be cut, meaning if $X was scheduled to rise by W%, then it will fall by W%-R%. If it was a $50 increase before the new law was passed, then it could be cut to $48.
So if your SS payment is $2000 say a month, then in the future, instead of getting $2,050, you will get $2048 a month.
Further, all of that will not begin until some future date, say 2035; a date when most current politicians will be safely retired on million dollar pensions.
Tempest in a teapot.
You forgot that Honest Joe needs his 10%.
RE: So if your SS payment is $2000 say a month, then in the future, instead of getting $2,050, you will get $2048 a month.
And how will they calculate inflation?
How does that happen?
Do they withhold SS payments from welfare checks?
Get rid of Medicaid and let the states deal with the problem they caused.
Stop paying anything from the SS trust fund to those that didn’t pay in.
Not one more dime for illegals, except to deport them.
Ship Jimmy Carter to Cuba for burial in a 1953 Rambler. (sorta off topic.)
I distinctly recall Biden on the campaign trail in 2020 speaking to some business people at a luncheon, a small gathering, and saying “we need to cut Social Security and Medicare.” I just wish I could find the video. Perhaps I didn’t save it....darn it.
>> Quit sending tax dollars overseas would fix it fast.
(in addition)
Quit spending on climate change in any form
Shut down the EPA, fire all those government workers
Shut down the department of education, fire all of them
Cut homeland security (including FBI) by 90%
Shut down DoE, fire all of them
Reduce Commerce by 90%
etc.
Not only would you greatly reduce government spending, but you’d have a million and a half, or so, of ex-FedGov employees suddenly willing to work at REAL jobs... or starve (because no welfare, no food stamps). It would reduce upward pressure on wages, and therefore reduce inflation.
Small government is a thing of economic beauty!
I got an idea. Secure the damn border and kick the grass crawling invaders out of our country. The money we would save on these Effin freeloaders is ginormous.
Another is quit sending money to our enemies. All handouts to nations must stop.
Welfare and other government handouts would cease. If you are able to work, no freebies. Welfare mamas can only get credit for ONE child. These baby machines have to stop being funded on our nickel
But, but we were promised it would never go broke! Her it is from 1964! Bookmark this link as it is almost impossible to find on the SS web page!
https://www.ssa.gov/history/ssa/usa1964-2.html
Self-Supporting
“The program is designed so that contributions plus interest on the investments of the social security trust funds will be sufficient to meet all of the costs of benefits and administration, now and into the indefinite future—without any subsidy from the general funds of the Government. Both the Congress and the Executive Branch, regardless of political party in power, have scrupulously provided in advance for full financing of all liberalizations in the program.”
See right there. That is BS. Turn them in for fraud. We have to do this every time we hear of this bs
>> IS THERE A WAY OF SAVINGSOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE WITHOUT HAVING TO CUT ANYTHING FOR THOSe WHO ARE RETIRE OR NEAR RETIREMENT?
You mean other than reducing our lifespan? ;-)
No, that's just it: they pass nothing, and just keep on keeping on. A few responsible Republicans will suggest facing reality and the Dems pounce and win the day.
Can successfully kicked.
And how will they calculate inflation?
—
Have no idea - they will use what ever arcane system they use now, guaranteed to reflect the lowest possible increase they can get way with.
We need our republic back first because Deep State doesn’t give a damn if either/both go bust.
Stop giving billions to Ukraine and other money laundering countries.
>> We have to [turn them in for fraud] every time we hear of this bs
That would be effective in law-abiding societies with honest law enforcement at the federal level, and without protected classes of people who are allowed to get away with fraud in the name of “reparations” and “equity”.
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