Way back in 1960, the Supremes ruled (Flemming v. Nestor) that SS is not a contractual right -- it is nothing more than a tax. It is not an earned benefit, and it is not insurance. This has been the law of the land for 58 years.
The SS administration recognizes this, but is very deceptive in the way they characterize SS benefits. For instance, your earned benefits are called your PIA (Primary Insurance Account). If a private company did this they would be cited for fraud in a heartbeat.
I would love to see President DJT get this underlying law changed so that SS really is a contractual obligation. As it is now, it is nothing more than welfare and an income redistribution scheme.
But the RATs have obfuscated this issue for decades and we are not going to correct their misinformation in a few months. Save the changes for after midterms.
Interesting. I didn’t know about that 1960 decision.
Still, I think in this situation, the president’s attitude toward the programs is the most important thing. If he considers them earned programs, then his sense of fairness would oblige him to leave them alone. Also his promises about them.