Cuts to either entitiment program’s that ARE ‘Safety Net’s ‘ for older Americans , who DO come out and vote on the issue’s has Congress in no appetite to tangle with….
One of the two Social Security programs and Medicare have more than a decade before becoming funds critical and if the ecconomy picks up with more employement ?
Those addtion tax payimng jobs would push the problem further back….
In one of his first moves after being elected House speaker, Mike Johnson promised to form a bipartisan debt commission to tackle what he termed “the greatest threat to our national security.”
The announcement sent shivers down the spines of advocates for Social Security and Medicare.
That’s because when Johnson chaired the Republican Study Committee a few years ago, the conservative group called for a variety of changes to the entitlement programs that it argued would save them from insolvency. And the speaker now intends to address the ballooning spending on Social Security and Medicare as part of the debt commission, according to a source familiar with his office. Johnson said last week he will “not predetermine the outcome” of the commission’s discussions.
However, advocates contend the committee’s proposals are veiled attempts to cut benefits by raising the retirement age and making the benefits less generous, among other changes.
Here’s what’s not up for debate: Social Security and Medicare are in financial trouble, and the nation’s debt is on an unsustainable trajectory. But solving these fiscal woes would likely require such difficult decisions that lawmakers are loathe to deal with them.
Social Security will not be able to pay full benefits in 2034 if Congress doesn’t act, according to its most recent trustees’ annual report. At that time, the funds’ reserves will be depleted, and the program’s continuing income will cover only 80% of benefits owed.
Medicare is in a more critical financial condition. Its hospital insurance trust fund, known as Medicare Part A, will be able to pay scheduled benefits in full only until 2031, according to its trustees’ annual report. At that time, Medicare will be able to cover only 89% of total scheduled benefits.
Meanwhile, the nation’s debt is projected to grow by $22.1 trillion to $46.7 trillion by the end of fiscal year 2033, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The debt is projected to rise to a record 107% of gross domestic product by fiscal year 2028 and reach 119% of GDP by the end of 2033. Spending on Social Security and Medicare is projected to soar as the nation ages, putting more pressure on Congress to address the programs…..
Note…
I’m on record as saying this Congress will NOT deal with this now or for several years…..