Trump suggested cutting Social Security and Medicare open thread

[cawacko]

It only solves itself until about 2035. That is about the time the surplus is depleted and revenues will only cover 70% of benefits according to the SS Trustee reports.

I don't think all the baby boomers will be gone by that time. Boomers will retire between 2010-2030.
A person retiring in 2030 at 67 probably has 15-20 more years.

Although boomers may be dying, the number of people over 65 will grow from 58 million today to 82 million by 2050. Problems with SS have largely been caused by the dropping fertility rate. In about 1950 there were 40 workers for each retiree. Today it is 3-1 and will soon be 2-1. Other causes are increasing life expectancy and all the additional benefits added to SS that were not part of the original law which included the worker only.

We too often hear the problem was that the government dipped in the SS fund but that is not true.

Well said. I think a lot of people are ignorant (the dictionary meaning of the term, not the pejorative) to the realities of S.S. because we get our info from politicians who aren’t incentivize to speak truthfully about it.

Hitting on your points. Lifespans were much shorter at the programs inception when 65 was the retirement age. We are living longer and the retirement age for S.S. has not kept up. (you now have people getting more benefits than they paid into the program as a result).

We have demographic issues, more retirees than young workers. That’s not sustainable. You hit on that within a decade benefits will have to be sharply reduced.

The facile response is “raise taxes on the rich” because it sounds good. But that alone won’t cover it and whet it does is turn the program into a true entitlement, more of a welfare program.

The reality of simply increasing taxes that they won’t say is it’s a huge tax increase on the younger generation and it will hit the middle class. Those thinking somehow the rich will only pay are going to be in for a big surprise.

The reality is we need more workers if the program is to remain as status quo. It will also entail increased taxes, later retirement age and reduced benefits. No one wants to hear that and of course politicians won’t say it. But that’s the reality. However we choose to keep our head in the sand about it.

 

[Dutch Uncle]

....The reality is we need more workers if the program is to remain as status quo. It will also entail increased taxes, later retirement age and reduced benefits. No one wants to hear that and of course politicians won’t say it. But that’s the reality. However we choose to keep our head in the sand about it.

Correct, which is why we need immigration reform.

 

[archives]

100% agreement with Trump's statements. Government waste is rampant and we all know it.
Guano the dupe is just trying to panic voters instead of concentrating on why the democrats hate him.

"Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump opened the door Monday to “cutting” spending under Social Security and Medicare, drawing swift pushback from President Joe Biden and elevating a key policy battle in the 2024 election.

Phoning into CNBC's "Squawk Box," Trump was pressed on how he plans to resolve the long-term solvency problems of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

“So first of all, there is a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting,” Trump responded. “And in terms of, also, the theft and the bad management of entitlements — tremendous bad management of entitlements — there’s tremendous amounts of things and numbers of things you can do.”

Good, I hope he makes it a campaign promise, key ingredient in his platform.

Entitlements do need to be addressed, but Trump saying it means nothing, right up there with his Health plan, Infrastructure plan, Mexico paying for a wall, etc., etc.,etc.

 

[archives]

Well said. I think a lot of people are ignorant (the dictionary meaning of the term, not the pejorative) to the realities of S.S. because we get our info from politicians who aren’t incentivize to speak truthfully about it.

Hitting on your points. Lifespans were much shorter at the programs inception when 65 was the retirement age. We are living longer and the retirement age for S.S. has not kept up. (you now have people getting more benefits than they paid into the program as a result).

We have demographic issues, more retirees than young workers. That’s not sustainable. You hit on that within a decade benefits will have to be sharply reduced.

The facile response is “raise taxes on the rich” because it sounds good. But that alone won’t cover it and whet it does is turn the program into a true entitlement, more of a welfare program.

The reality of simply increasing taxes that they won’t say is it’s a huge tax increase on the younger generation and it will hit the middle class. Those thinking somehow the rich will only pay are going to be in for a big surprise.

The reality is we need more workers if the program is to remain as status quo. It will also entail increased taxes, later retirement age and reduced benefits. No one wants to hear that and of course politicians won’t say it. But that’s the reality. However we choose to keep our head in the sand about it.

Yet it can be done, as you mentioned, raising retirement age, adding means testing, platforming benefits, stricter enforcement on Medicare/Medicaid payouts, etc, but it would require cooperation from both sides that ain’t foreseeable in the near future

 

[Nordberg]

It only solves itself until about 2035. That is about the time the surplus is depleted and revenues will only cover 70% of benefits according to the SS Trustee reports.

I don't think all the baby boomers will be gone by that time. Boomers will retire between 2010-2030.
A person retiring in 2030 at 67 probably has 15-20 more years.

Although boomers may be dying, the number of people over 65 will grow from 58 million today to 82 million by 2050. Problems with SS have largely been caused by the dropping fertility rate. In about 1950 there were 40 workers for each retiree. Today it is 3-1 and will soon be 2-1. Other causes are increasing life expectancy and all the additional benefits added to SS that were not part of the original law which included the worker only.

We too often hear the problem was that the government dipped in the SS fund but that is not true.

Boomers were born between 1946 and 1954.They are between 72 and 78.

 

[Flash]

A partial solution is legalizing assisted suicide.

Fertility rate can be compensated for by immigration. Our nation needs immigration reform.

The U. S. would have no population growth if not for immigration.

 

[cawacko]

Yet it can be done, as you mentioned, raising retirement age, adding means testing, platforming benefits, stricter enforcement on Medicare/Medicaid payouts, etc, but it would require cooperation from both sides that ain’t foreseeable in the near future

Any changes to a program of this nature will have to be done on a bi-partisan basis. Can't remember if they did this before but it will likely take a group of bi-partisan respected elders, if those types even exist anymore, to make recommendations. Because it is so powerful politically to accuse others of wanting to end S.S or take away benefits almost no current politician is willing to speak of the challenges, let alone recommend changes. And we have basically mislead people for so long voters are not going to happy at all with hearing increased taxes, later retirement age, reduced benefits and will revolt. Politicians will run for the hills then.

That's the challenge.

 

[Flash]

Well said. I think a lot of people are ignorant (the dictionary meaning of the term, not the pejorative) to the realities of S.S. because we get our info from politicians who aren’t incentivize to speak truthfully about it.

Hitting on your points. Lifespans were much shorter at the programs inception when 65 was the retirement age. We are living longer and the retirement age for S.S. has not kept up. (you now have people getting more benefits than they paid into the program as a result).

We have demographic issues, more retirees than young workers. That’s not sustainable. You hit on that within a decade benefits will have to be sharply reduced.

The facile response is “raise taxes on the rich” because it sounds good. But that alone won’t cover it and whet it does is turn the program into a true entitlement, more of a welfare program.

The reality of simply increasing taxes that they won’t say is it’s a huge tax increase on the younger generation and it will hit the middle class. Those thinking somehow the rich will only pay are going to be in for a big surprise.

The reality is we need more workers if the program is to remain as status quo. It will also entail increased taxes, later retirement age and reduced benefits. No one wants to hear that and of course politicians won’t say it. But that’s the reality. However we choose to keep our head in the sand about it.

Good points.

I think this is the reverse: "(you now have people getting more benefits than they paid into the program as a result)"

The older the generation the more they received in benefits over the taxes they paid. Today (or soon) workers will pay in more than they receive in benefits.

 

[cawacko]

Boomers were born between 1946 and 1954.They are between 72 and 78.

Boomers are between 1946 and 1964.

 

[Dutch Uncle]

The U. S. would have no population growth if not for immigration.

Agreed. Which, again, is why we need immigration reform.

IMO, illegal immigration is being both tacitly and overtly supported by various forces with the strongest forces being economically motivated. The problem can't be fixed with Executive Orders, only by Congressional legislation. I.E. Immigration Reform. Neither party appears to desire it as a priority. Instead, they favor the status quo. Trump's wall is a ruse for rubes and other dumbasses.

 

[Flash]

Boomers were born between 1946 and 1954.They are between 72 and 78.

Boomers are 1946-1964.

 

[archives]

The Social Security scam needs to be exposed for what it really is........that of a shining example of the complete incompetence of government to manage the money of the people. I haven't seen a better example of a bad return on investment since the madoff and enron scams.

Yeah, and lets get rid of child labor laws, the 16th and 18th Amendments, and bring back the 17th Amendment, make America like it used to be

 

[SmarterthanYou]

Yeah, and lets get rid of child labor laws, the 16th and 18th Amendments, and bring back the 17th Amendment, make America like it used to be

you got two out of three right.

question: If it took a Constitutional Amendment to prohibit alcohol, and another one to make it legal again, how do you justify the controlled substances act?

 

[Callinectes]

Just a few random observations on SS from my own experience:

When I was considering retirement at 62, I started looking at the SS website to keep track of what the monthly checks would be. It was kind of disappointing, but I figured it is what it is, and I decided to work a little longer (to the magical 65), to beef up the checks a little.

Along comes the pandemic, and I loose a shit ton of income for two years. Retirement is once again off the table, and I’m asked to come back for awhile anyway.

Find out that the “full retirement age” for SS is actually 66 1/2 years old, and I reached that mark back in September of this year. Hot damn! This meant about an extra $78 a month!

By this time, I wasn’t paying attention to the SS website anymore, and thought that my plans were pretty much finalized. I figured my monthly check would come in at about $1750-$1800. Nay nay! I hadn’t factored in the COLAs for 2022 and 23! Both SS and my military retirement COLAs were 5.9% in 2022. The SS COLA for 2023 was 8.7%! I have no reason to believe my military pension was any different, and the 2024 COLAs are at 3.2%. On top of this, because I’m a nice guy, I’ll pass this along to you lefties. Because I reached full retirement age (and passed it) my first SS disbursement was backdated to September and I received a check for over $10,000! And my future combined federal income is going to be over $700 a month more than I projected. I am making more in retirement than I was when I was working!

My take away from this is: lefties, make sure your kids are busting their asses to keep me in the lifestyle to which I have become accustomed to. These benefits are not going to come down, at least for us boomers. Trump said there were things you COULD do about SS, not that he was going to do anything. But Nikki Hailey said the situation was a nightmare and something had to be done, but not to the current crop of beneficiaries. She said the burden will fall on the children. Did you know she was an accountant?

Comrade lefties! Prepare your offspring!

 

[Dutch Uncle]

My take away from this is: lefties, make sure your kids are busting their asses to keep me in the lifestyle to which I have become accustomed to. These benefits are not going to come down, at least for us boomers. Trump said there were things you COULD do about SS, not that he was going to do anything. But Nikki Hailey said the situation was a nightmare and something had to be done, but not to the current crop of beneficiaries. She said the burden will fall on the children. Did you know she was an accountant?

Comrade lefties! Prepare your offspring!

Just like you busted your ass for their parents? LOL I'm living on my military pension and SS and, fortunately, haven't had to touch our savings at all. Being smarter than the average bears, we retired with very little debt. The house went an extra year but that was expected and planned for. Life is good. I feel sorry for all those who aren't enjoying their golden years like my wife and I.

SS is based on the idea that the United States would continue to do well as a nation. The same people who are claiming SS is a Ponzi Scheme are the ones that hoped "Obama would fail". They don't want the nation to do better because it would make these poor, bitter old geezers look like exactly what they are. That's even sadder than the people who lived large when they were young and are broke now.

 

[Lionfish]

More bullshit from Guano the dupe. Trump said no such thing.

 

[Lionfish]

Guano the dupe is full of bullshit.

 

[Lionfish]