Warnings about cuts to Social Security and Medicare need to be taken seriously
Social Security is running a deficit this year by paying more to beneficiaries than is collected from worker payroll taxes. This is projected to continue until 2034, when all past reserves will be exhausted. Medicare reaches insolvency even sooner, in 2026. Both programs will continue, but current benefits and guarantees cannot be met unless Congress acts before insolvency is reached. The finances of these programs can be shored up with tax increases, benefit cuts, a higher Social Security retirement age, or some combination of all three. To date, the Trump Administration has largely downplayed the bad news and stressed faster economic growth as the panacea. The President’s Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, says tax cuts, fewer regulations, and better trade deals will boost growth and revenues enough to keep the programs going as they are, avoiding the need for painful cuts or tax hikes. Columnist Paul Brandus dismisses this and further notes that demographics, the new tax cut law, and even tighter worker regulations on immigrants, are all having a negative impact on the financial health of Social Security and Medicare. Read full article here. Note, The Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) has developed a bipartisan compromise, “The Social Security Guarantee Act,” to strengthen Social Security for present and future generations with modest changes now to head off across the board cuts for all. The plan takes selected portions of bills introduced by Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX) and Rep. John Larson (D-CT) and merges them with the AMAC’s original legislative framework to create the new Act. AMAC is resolute in its mission to get the attention of lawmakers in DC, meeting with many congressional offices and their legislative staffs over the years. Read AMAC’s Social Security Guarantee here…
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