Key Points Social Security trust funds are projected to become insolvent in 2035. Unless Congress acts, this will trigger benefit cuts of roughly 17 percent. President Trump and Elon Musk have repeatedly claimed that improper benefit payments to dead people…
Introduction Since the last major Social Security reforms enacted in 1983, every annual Trustees’ report has projected benefits would exceed payroll taxes (plus income taxes on benefits) by 2021 or earlier, and the combined retirement and disability trust funds…
Introduction The impact of the Social Security program on the Federal budget has been the subject of much controversy and confusion. Indeed, disagreement between the Social Security and Medicare actuaries resulted in a lengthy addition to the “Statement of…
Introduction Recent reports from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) have reiterated long-standing warnings that the federal budget suffers from a growing structural gap between projected spending and revenues. If left unaddressed, this structural…
Social Security is the largest program in the federal budget. It provides monthly income to over 60 million Americans -- most of whom depend on it as their largest source of retirement income. That spending is financed by a tax…
Economists Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Jared Bernstein said last week that the next president and Congress must address both income inequality and fiscal responsibility. They spoke at a program at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College. The…