Damn, right wing media is already starting the drum beat to cut SS and Medicare.

[lark]

This is from the rw fish wrap in Jacksonville preparing the ground for the repugs theft of the century.


https://www.jacksonville.com/zz/news/20200422/social-security-and-medicare-funds-at-risk-even-before-virus

[Turbineguy]

1. This virus

isn't killing enough people.

[efhmc]

2. Drum away. Anyone who wants to be reelected will not touch either one of these programs, especially

not SS. During the best of times, it is an unpopular vote and now even more so.

[brewens]

11. Quite a few people that were not drawing their SS but were eligible are probably doing so

now I would think. Or about to before long. No doubt that will be some who would have gone along with cuts recently, but it's them now too. Not a good move to mess with it.

[Midnight Writer]

12. My worry is that these Republicans will realize they are done and will swing for the fences.

Perhaps in a lame duck session.

"What have you got to lose?" mentality.

[lark]

19. Oh, they won't push for it until after the election, but then it will be a huge effort.

They know they can't run on that, but they 100% will cut it if they can.

[Rebl2]

21. I would

think if they try this, as long as Democrats are elected, they will undo that. Along with a lot of other asinine things repugs have done.

[still_one]

3. Maybe that is another reason why trump has lost significant support among older adults

[customerserviceguy]

4. I'd read that

if it didn't hate my ad blocker.

The biggest threat to Social Security and Medicaid is from the fact that payroll taxes paid into those systems are way, way down right now. I expect the next Trustees report to show that the funds will go broke in the next couple of years. That will either require a politically risky fix, or we just watch benefits being slashed.

[whathehell]

6. How about we rescind the Trump Trillion Dollar Tax Giveaway?

[SheltieLover]

9. This!👆

[scarletwoman]

7. Isn't the easiest fix to simply raise the cap on FICA wages? (nt)

[dhill926]

13. one would think....

this is long overdue...

[customerserviceguy]

24. Just like in the 1980's

it will take a combination of things. And raising the cap while keeping the rest of the law intact creates another problem, it raises the maximum benefit. I'd hate to see a CEO who got paid megabucks for running a company into the ground having a $10K per month Social Security benefit as their golden parachute. Perhaps another payment bracket needs to be figured out, right now, there are three of them, all cascading downwards as the benefit amount goes up.

It will probably take at least a one percent raise in both employer and employee FICA rates to save the system, as well as broadening the amounts of income subject to FICA taxes. And we may have to switch to chained CPI, as well.

These changes will not be popular, nor were the changes in the eighties. But, in the negotiations that took place when both parties made bipartisanship work for the good of the country, that's what saved Social Security for another thirty-five years. I don't think we can expect that kind of cooperation these days, and stalemate will be the result, pushing us closer to the edge.

[at140]

8. Why not the federal government borrow more to make up the payroll shortfall?

The national debt is just a bit more than a years GDP at $25 Trillion. This is the right time to double it because interest rates are near zero.

[whathehell]

5. In a time of pandemic & massive unemployment?

I'd say their timing is WAY off

[SheltieLover]

10. K&R!

[sprinkleeninow]

14. when shrub flew around the country in an attempt to sell

privatizing SS, he was met with WHAT ALL!!

he returned home with tail between legs

[SeattleVet]

15. They're just echoing tRumplethinskin's call for a 'payroll tax' cut.

He's been harping on this for the couple of weeks or so, and his supporters are too dense to realize that he's not talking about income tax withholding rates. What he is talking about is Social Security, Medicare, and Unemployment payroll taxes - the right's underhanded way of starving these programs through defunding.

Any time he says 'payroll tax', realize that he's talking about these programs, and not income taxes - and the media has been totally negligent in telling people what the phrase actually means.

If his supporters (the "keep your government out of my Medicare" group) knew this, support for him and this idiot idea would evaporate.

[Hoyt]

16. Thing is, what they say about the Medicare and SS trust fund is true. It was known under Obama and

george war bush. Look up the trust fund reports if you don't believe it, and that was before CV19 and massive unemployment.

We've been kicking the can down the road, but the day of reckoning is coming. I suspect the article is right that the current economic issues move the date sooner.

Obama tried to initiate discussion on the issue, but was bashed by the so-called "progressives."

We better damn hope Democrats are in office when the can can't be kicked anymore.


And, please spare us that "remove the cap" junk. The cap will get raised some, but it's not going to be removed, primarily because the 16% additional tax on the wealthy that represents is going to be needed to pay for healthcare, education, child care, deficit/debt reduction, infrastructure, college debt reduction, etc. Simply raising the cap ain't gonna to solve the problem because benefits for those over the cap increase too, and the money is needed elsewhere.

______________

A few comments from Trustees' Report Summary:

"The Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund, which pays retirement and survivors benefits, will be able to pay scheduled benefits on a timely basis until 2034, the same as reported last year. At that time, the fund’s reserves will become depleted and continuing tax income will be sufficient to pay 76 percent of scheduled benefits."

"The Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund, which pays Medicare Part A inpatient hospital expenses, will be able to pay scheduled benefits until 2026, the same as reported last year. At that time, the fund’s reserves will become depleted and continuing total pro-gram income will be sufficient to pay 90 percent of total scheduled benefits.

"The Supplemental Medical Insurance (SMI) Trust Fund has two accounts: Part B, which pays for physician and outpatient services, and Part D, which covers prescription drug benefits. SMI is adequately financed into the indefinite future because current law provides financing from general revenues and beneficiary premiums each year to meet the next year’s expected costs. Due to these funding provisions, the rapid growth of SMI costs will place steadily increasing demands on both taxpayers and beneficiaries."


https://www.ssa.gov/oact/trsum/

[lark]

17. This is so simple to fix, it just proves how much the rich own us that it hasn't already happened.

Make all income subject to social security, including that of vulture capitalists ike Romney, as well as income tax. No cap. This is also an employment opportunity because the IRS would need to hire a fleet of tax attorneys to scrutinize the cheating returns of the oligarchs. If we can break their backs and somehow win this election despite drumps' 500 billion reelection fund, this needs to be one of Biden's first order of business as president, after traitorous repugs have bankrupted us for the rich.

[Hoyt]

20. Won't happen, and especially because that money is needed for other things like healthcare.

Some people will keep saying tax the rich, which will be part of the solution, but not the whole solution. So, we'll go into the 2030s and face an automatic 24% cut to Social Security Benefits. Hopefully, somebody with some sense will be elected to Congress and as Prez to get something done before then.

[BeckyDem]

18. They are determined to rob the public blind.

[appalachiablue]

22. Raise the cap

[lark]

23. I'd prefer busting the cap, but yes, raising the cap might be more doable.

Raise the cap to $1,000,000. and SS would be in good shape.