“The Social Security Trustees report is a clarion call for Congress to strengthen the program NOW before the looming depletion of the trust fund becomes a full-blown crisis. If Congress fails to act, the combined retirement and disability trust fund reserves will run dry in 2034 and beneficiaries will suffer an automatic 17% cut – a scenario few want to see happen. Lawmakers should not wait until the last minute when options become proscribed and remedies more costly.
This does not mean that Social Security is going ‘bankrupt’ or ‘broke.’ As long as people are working and paying into the system, Social Security will continue to pay benefits. For the program itself to go ‘broke,’ there would have to be 100% unemployment — a highly unlikely scenario.
Nor does the trustees report mean that benefits must be cut to maintain the program’s fiscal health. It would be grossly unfair to ask beneficiaries on fixed incomes to bear the cost of strengthening Social Security. While conservatives favor benefit cuts (such as raising the retirement age, means testing, or reduced COLAs), we advocate for revenue-side solutions where the wealthy pay their fair share. Adjusting the $184,500 payroll wage cap and subjecting some of high earners’ investment income to Social Security taxes would keep the system solvent well beyond the 2030s. Democrats in congress have introduced legislation to achieve that.
Make no mistake: the next congress – and especially the next class of Senators – will decide the future of Social Security. Anyone elected to the Senate this November will likely be in office until at least 2033. We have launched a public education campaign entitled, “Social Security is on the Ballot,” to help voters identify candidates who will strengthen the program in an equitable way that protects current and future beneficiaries from cuts.
For more than 90 years, Social Security has provided basic financial stability for generations of retirees and their families. The government made a promise to workers who contribute to Social Security with every paycheck. In the wake of the new trustees report, the people and their elected leaders must ensure that the promise of Social Security remains unbroken.” – Max Richtman, President and CEO, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
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Media inquiries:
Walter Gottlieb