The subject has been way TOOOOO Hot for lawmakers in the past…..
While they are talking about changes?
There is little chance of a ‘reactive’ US Congress actually changing much of anything for another decade or so when things would need ‘proactive’ action from Congress….
They ARE trying to marry this to debt ceiling politics that BOTH parties have taken hard postions on….
And then there is Donald Trump….
Below is the latest on the subject….
A bipartisan group of senators is treading carefully into the politically difficult discussion of making changes to Social Security to extend its solvency.
Senators from both parties who have been involved in the talks are tight-lipped when it comes to revealing details, though reports have begun to surface of discussions of potential changes to the age threshold for retirement and raising the taxable wage cap….
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It’s unclear exactly how many senators are involved in the talks, though Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said about five to six senators have been attending briefings “routinely,” including Sens. Angus King (I-Maine), Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah).
The talks are taking place against the backdrop of efforts to raise the debt ceiling this summer. House Republicans have demanded steep spending cuts in return for raising the ceiling.
The Biden administration has argued that the lifting of the debt ceiling should be handled separately, while accusing Republicans of seeking to make cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
Republicans in the Senate and House have chafed at the White House attacks, and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has insisted that Social Security and Medicare will not be touched as part of a debt limit deal.
But there are voices in both parties who think changes do need to be made to Social Security to extend its life separately from the debt limit fight. …
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According to Semafor, among the ideas being discussed as a potential backup plan if the fund falls short of at least 8 percent in return include upping the maximum taxable income and payroll tax rate. But both are proposals that could see a tough time garnering necessary support for passage in a divided Congress.
The senators involved in the bipartisan group say they are trying to keep the talks from becoming politicized. That’s a difficult task given the high stakes in the debt ceiling fight….
Trump vs Republicans ….
Donald Trump is driving a wedge through the GOP over one of American politics’ thorniest issues: the future of Medicare and Social Security.
The former president’s attacks on potential GOP primary opponents, and his warning to party leaders to stay away from the popular entitlement programs in their push to cut spending, are cleaving Republicans at every level. Lawmakers who once backed entitlement overhauls are now openly at odds with colleagues who’d prefer to soften their positions before they face voters in 2024. And a GOP presidential race that’s a referendum on Trump himself is now also becoming one on Medicare and Social Security.
While the GOP once more actively pushed for changing both programs’ benefits, Trump has separated the party into two distinct camps as he attacks Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis as a “wheelchair over the cliff kind of guy” for supporting a congressional budget that alters Medicare. Both Republican camps and even some Democrats agree that Trump’s moves are politically effective. But some GOP members are angry to see their party freshly divided over fiscal austerity.
“It got him elected the first time, and I think it will get him elected the second time,” Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Budget Committee’s top Republican, said of Trump’s rhetoric. “But it doesn’t do anything for our children and grandchildren that aren’t going to have a program that I’m enjoying right now.”…