Posted on 02/10/2023 6:57:04 AM PST by SeekAndFind
The last president to reform Social Security was Ronald Reagan. He formed the Greenspan Commission to formulate solutions to problems the program faced. Reagan then worked with speaker of the House Tip O'Neill to enact the solutions. Social Security as we know it would have ended decades ago had he not been successful.
During the 2022 elections, Democrats claimed that Republicans would "end" Social Security and Medicare if elected. On January 26, President Biden proclaimed, "Here's the deal: they want to cut your Social Security and Medicare." At the State of the Union address, Biden doubled down, saying, "Republicans want Social Security and Medicare to sunset." While Democrats spout malarkey, Social Security and Medicare are in peril. Action must be taken to bolster these programs, as they are again in jeopardy.
Social Security is divided into two funds: the Old Age Survivors Insurance (OASI) and Disability Insurance (D.I.) funds. "The OASI Trust Fund reserves are projected to be depleted in 2034, at which time OASI would pay 77 percent of scheduled benefits. DI Trust Fund asset reserves are not projected to become depleted during the 75-year period ending in 2096." Medicare is also divided into two funds: Hospital Insurance (H.I.) and Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI) trust funds. "The estimated depletion date for the HI trust fund is 2028." Since the government can raise the cost of premiums for participants in the SMI, "it is expected to be adequately funded for the next 10 years and beyond."
OASI and H.I. are underfunded. This is not a problem for Republicans or Democrats, but a problem for the hundreds of millions of people who participate in these programs. Republicans have assured the public they won't "touch" the programs.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Republicans need to stay the hell away from SS and Medicare.
Attack the left for being soft on crime, socialism, wokism, pushing men into women’s sports, forced vaccinations, forced business closures and masking, etc, ect.
Don’t change the subject.
The only place this reform is going is into Democrat campaign ads. To say the Republican party is dopey is an insult to genuine dopes.
Talking about Social Security reform is political death for Republicans. It can’t even be mentioned. The article is wrong, Dems will have to take the lead
Oh bullshite....
We have billions to send to Ukraine..
Billions more to give cell phones to illegals.
Billions more to pay for internet services for a certain class of individuals.
Billions to pay to unions.
Billions to pay hospital bills.
And so on....
Yet, we cannot find the money to repay those that PAID into this system for decades?
I can add....
And this is why math is racist
Any halfway competent spin-meister will turn “reform” into “cut” and the hapless Republicans will let them get away with it and lose even bigger. Some cans need to be left on the road.
I agree.
On the one hand, I think all sensible people know that SS and Medicare are in serious trouble.
But on the other hand, it is political death to step up and say “I will fix it”. That’s just fuel for the Democrats to tell people that Republicans want to kill these programs and have Grandma die in the street.
As you say, there are plenty of problems to solve. In these divisive political times, I would focus on problems that are not “sure death”. That way, we might actually be able to accomplish something.
Lots of things to cut before we can even get to Social Security.
It’s called “The Third Rail of Politics” for a reason. A lot of us are now at the point where we’ve paid in all of our working lives, and we don’t want the rug pulled from under us. People planned their lives based on the SS projections.
How about no. Cut idiotic foreign aid programs first. Cut idiotic give-away programs to illegals first. Cut wasteful programs and wasteful departments. Cut NPR. Etc.
Social Security is a contract. Honor the contract.
And I haven’t even discussed how messing with Social Security will cause the GOP to lose elections. I’ll let others here cover that.
I've been around for a long time and I can't think of one problem Washington politicians have solved. Maybe others can.
Is this Diarrhea moutha Dem plant .?
We dont control all three branches of
Govt. Its a set up .
More clueless no nothings spouting off bad advice .
The problem is NOT Social Security. The problem is out of control spending on everything else. This is a losing issue because no politician will ever touch this and they shouldn’t. Rest assured the problem will take care of itself one day.
RE: How about no.
How about NOT RAIDING the Social Security Trust Fund and giving it an IOU that they know cannot be paid back?
Everybody things of the “Lock Box” as a joke because Al Gore mentioned it over 20 years ago, but that should have been seriously considered then. George W. Bush actually proposed it in one of his speeches to Congress but was sidetracked by the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the eventual invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
> How about NOT RAIDING the Social Security Trust Fund and giving it an IOU that they know cannot be paid back? <
Yes, you are right. That should be on the list also.
“On the one hand, I think all sensible people know that SS and Medicare are in serious trouble.”
I write here of only Social Security.
Shouldn’t there be rules defining it operation.
a) At what age should it start giving benefits? Wouldn’t that be based on the percentage of people that are capable of holding full time jobs? Social Security shouldn’t be supporting people that are able to work.
b) How much of our GDP should go to Social Security. Should we pay more than, say, 6% of our GDP to support “retirements”?
Exactly. The republican governor of Pennsylvania raised the gasoline tax so the democrats could campaign on it and win the governorship. The Stupid Party name does properly describe the republicans.
Fair point. I might offer that the best “solution” Washington can offer for many things is just to get out of the way. Education and Energy are certainly two fields where the government “fixes” the problem by simply no longer being the problem.
The “less government is good” approach works in a number of problem areas, but it is political death for SS and Medicare. Even if we think that less government would be the solution there, it would be foolish to say so. I would want our politicians to focus on shrinking government in other social areas. That’s the best contribution they can make.
It needs to be taken OUT of politics. I would set up a competition among scholars and institutions and think tanks to come up with solutions, then refine down from there.
This is a classic Republican death march—a great way to lose the House and stay the minority party forever.
It's remarkable to watch a Party that is so out of touch with Americans, and especially their base. I enjoy pointing and mocking them. They aren't worth being a part of.
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