General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Social Security and the life expectancy meme: the age of SS cutting is upon us again. [View all]Silent Type
(3,572 posts)isn't going to happen, although it is considered an easy fix by many. We might get a small increase in tax rate, maybe some bump in cap, but not much.
Currently, we have an annual Deficit between $1.5 T and $2.0 Trillion. We need a totally revamped healthcare system that will cost significantly more than we spend now; we need child care; we need climate change; we need homes for homeless; unfortunately it appears we'll be fighting wars for years to come; jobs, education, infrastructure, etc.
Does anyone really think we will increase taxes by 12.4 percentage points (6.2% we pay, 6.2% employer pays for Social Security) and still be able to go after another 10 to 20 percentage points we'll need to fund healthcare, etc.
Ain't gonna happen no matter how much we complain, rant, yell.
We'll get closer to the mandatory benefit cut of 23% looming at some point around 2035. Hopefully, Democrats will be in office when the crunch comes and something has to be changed. But, there is not guarantee of that.
Obama tried for SS reform and got bashed by his own supporters calling it the Catfood Commission. One of the Commission's recommendations was to increase payments to those beneficiaries at the lower level. Obama was criticized to hell for it.