Real News — Not Fake News — About Social Security

As our entitlement state continues its slow collapse, and most of the media chooses to imagine collusion between Donald Trump and Russia over who-knows-what, here are some real life facts from the Social Security Board of Trustees:

By 2034, Social Security is expected to have exhausted its more than $2.8 trillion in spare cash, leaving seniors to face what could be an across-the-board cut in benefits of up to 21% .

Should Congress do nothing between now and 2034, benefit cuts on existing and future retirees would be a strong possibility.

What was predicted to be a 21% across-the-board benefits cut in last year’s report is now forecast to be a 23% benefits cut by 2034.

I know people are quick to say that Social Security, like Medicare, is not an entitlement. But the fact remains that both of these programs are insolvent. In simple terms, they pay out way, way more than they take in. So even if you personally feel that you paid your share, and possibly you did, the hard truth remains that the programs take in way less than they pay out.

During the Obama years, the federal government made it easier for people to get on Social Security prior to ages 62/65 than ever before. It did so by making it easier to claim disability. As a result, even more people are dependent on the federal government for an income. It may be a meager income, but for some it’s all the income they have, and it’s often combined with moving in with family members who could easily support them without the Social Security income.

From a middle class point-of-view, which is most of us, it never made sense to count on Social Security as all or most of your retirement income. However, given these numbers, it will make less sense than ever before. It’s only a matter of time before politicians in both parties come to the conclusion that Social Security should only pay out to people below a certain income. It should be interesting to see voters’ response when that time comes. The only other alternative is to raise payroll taxes. While Americans have an almost unlimited positive attitude about government spending, most do not share that attitude about taxing themselves. And at some point, we’ll have to tax someone other than the top one percent if these programs are to survive. Current payroll taxes paid by working people will not cut it.

The numbers on Medicare are even more ominous. But that’s a separate article. The principle here is not hard to understand. When a Sugar Daddy/Sugar Mama Big Government makes promises with other people’s money that it can never possibly keep, sooner or later the time will come to face the music. Remember that, especially you 20-something  millennials who believe that all-out socialism will solve all our problems. All-out socialism will only hasten the day of our complete fiscal and moral bankruptcy. The government is already dead broke, $20 trillion in debt and forcing the productive (even working class productive) to carry the load of those who will not work. Even without all-out socialism, the federal government has run out of other people’s money (to paraphrase the late great Margaret Thatcher).

So what now, socialists?