Not only does Socual Security outlay more money than it takes in, but it is very close to exhausting the warchest of money it had built up as the baby boomers moved through their most productive years.
The trust fund that bankrolls monthly checks to retirees is set to be drained of reserves in late 2032.
Tax, reduce, or print:
White House spokesperson Liz Huston said in a statement that Trump “will always protect and strengthen Social Security” and noted that the Republican megabill enacted last summer created a temporary tax deduction for people 65 and older that can be used to reduce taxes owed on Social Security benefits.
“Under his leadership, there will be zero reductions to Social Security payments,” she said, without specifying how Trump proposes to address the 2032 cliff.
This isn't the first time that the US has had to think about this problem. In the 80s, the answer was tax and reduce benefits. I suspect the reduce argument will be much more difficult this time around.
The last time Social Security was headed toward insolvency, in the early 1980s, Congress didn’t enact a solution until a few months before benefits were set to be cut. A commission appointed by then-President Ronald Reagan developed proposals for overhauling the safety-net program, and lawmakers then passed a 1983 overhaul that gradually increased the age for receiving full benefits to 67 and raised taxes on those benefits, among other tweaks.
Perhaps a highly contagious virus that only knocks off the elderly
That didn't really work. Except it was a good reason to brrrrrr
I tell my daughter all the time that you shouldn't get upset by failure. Just try again.
Get those 200M Optimus manufactured first tho. Chess, not checkers.
This is the same issue as the pensions discussion. A deferment of cost was made and the money was instead used elsewhere for cash flow. Now the bill is due and the government has to pay up at modern costs versus when it borrowed the money. From a ledger perspective, Social Security is fine. From a borrower perspective, the government is fooked.
https://www.cato.org/blog/social-securitys-41-trillion-hidden-government-deficit
Sadly, when the government is fucked, it just passes the fucking on to the rest of us.
This whole drama is ridiculous. Of course they will print.
But not before they use it as an excuse to increase the payroll tax.
Here's the plan:
1971(but actually '46)-2028: Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
2028: "Trump bad" -> Democrats Brrrrrrr
2029-2032: Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
2032: "Newsom (?) bad" -> Republicans Brrrrrrr
2033-2036: Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
and so on. The constant:
Eventually someone has to pay the bill.