Social Security is still in good shape but faces challenges -- from Trump

[Zorro]

The annual reports of the Social Security and Medicare trustees provide yearly opportunities for misunderstandings by politicians, the media, and the general public about the health of these programs. This year is no exception.

A case in point is the response by House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Tex.) to the Social Security and Medicare trustees’ projections about the depletion of the programs’ reserves: “Doing nothing to address the solvency of these programs will result in an immediate, automatic, and catastrophic cut to benefits for the nearly 70 million seniors who rely on them.”

The reports say nothing about an “immediate” cut to benefits. They talk about cuts that might happen in 2034 and 2033, when there still would be enough money coming in to pay 89% of scheduled Medicare benefits and 81% of scheduled Social Security benefits.

The Trump Administration’s actions are weakening the country’s economic outlook and Social Security’s financial footing.
— Kathleen Romig, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

House Ways and Means Committee chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) used the release of the reports to plump for the budget resolution that the House narrowly passed on orders from President Trump and that is currently being masticated by several Senate committees.

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2025-06-20/social-security-is-still-in-good-shape-but-faces-challenges-from-trump

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Doesn't sound like great shape. 89% and 81%

Those sound like 11-19% shortfalls to me. How would they make up that kind of cash? Maybe global warming or another pandemic will shrink the beneficiary pool? RFKJr will be their doctor?

You can't keep giving $3-5 Trillion to billionaires and remain solvent. They are hollowing it out.

[valleyrogue]

2. Wrong. It's not "going broke." That is a LIE.

No federal program can go "insolvent" because it prints the money. Furthermore, any "shortfall" can be made up through using the general fund. This is why Congress isn't in any hurry to "fix" it. They KNOW this.

People need to quit believing this Cato Institute BULLSHIT that has been peddled for 45 years. They use that lie to create generational warfare, more of the politics of resentment which the right is so good at.

I will not "debate" this with anybody because I KNOW this "insolvency" claim is a pile of shit.

[bucolic_frolic]

3. general fund is running deficits of hundreds of billions of dollars a year.

So where does Congress get the cash for this general fund? Hide the deficit in another checking account?