The next generation of senators has a ticking time bomb in their lap: Social Security’s insolvency, without a plan for national debt

Posted by fortune@reddit | collapse | View on Reddit | 50 comments

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) has a ticker on its website: The Retirement Trust Fund Countdown. At the time of writing, it stands at six years, seven months, five days, seven hours, 28 minutes, and eleven seconds.

This, the CRFB says, is when the Social Security program’s funds will be exhausted, and cuts to services would ensue. Medicare has a similar insolvency clock, due to wind down a little over a month before Social Security.

These clocks represent a problem for Congress. Not for the senators of today, but for the class that will follow them. Some 33 senators will see their terms expiring in early January 2027, with their seats up for election later this year.

Their continued service, or their replacements, will hold the seats for the next six years: Meaning the deadline to fix the funding for mandatory budget spends like Social Security and Medicare will fall squarely into their laps.

The wider problem they will need to wrangle with is the question of the federal government’s ongoing spending deficit, and the $39 trillion national debt burden it has created.

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Least-Ad3852@reddit

Removing the cap (and maintaining the benefits cap) solves 62% of the issue, according to SSA's annual report.

62% is not zero, but it doesn't make it "funded until the end of time." There are just not enough high earners to carry everyone. So, no matter what, they're going to look at cutting benefits for younger people, raising the withholding tax for everyone, increasing the retirement age, and means-testing. Basically, everyone will feel some pain.

Not billionaires, since they don't make their money from salaries and wages (at least not a material percentage of their income).

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jiordan@reddit

So do that, get rid of all those tax cuts, defund the military and voila plenty of money to take care of everyone. It requires political will, which seems to be lacking when it comes to taking care of American citizens, the poor, the hungry, the sick, etc., but we can absolutely fund the social safety net. Oh, and eliminate gerrymandering, insider trading, and Citizens United to disincentivize our “representatives” making money off our suffering. That would be a really good start…

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Least-Ad3852@reddit

I mean, sure. I was commenting on the Social Security issues the OP referenced, not the entire way our government could theoretically be changed.

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ShroomBear@reddit

The thing that NEEDS to happen is that costs being billed against SS need to come down. There really isn't a funding problem, its a free market problem because the govt is willing to pay exorbitant prices. Just on the single insulin drug Novolog, the manufacturers list price is $495, after negotiations became mandatory, Medicare is billed $119 as the rate for 2026 from the manufacturer, the cost to a medicare recipient is capped at $35, but the cost to produce a vial is ~$5.

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Least-Ad3852@reddit

No argument, Medicare costs are out of control. However, I was commenting on Social Security (Medicare is a different program entirely).

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jiordan@reddit

Not all, but a lot. Which takes me down the single payor/universal healthcare path. Eliminating insurance (private, corporate insurance) is one of the best things we could do. Again, political will for it would be great.

Ohms_lawlessness@reddit

Remove the maximum taxable income cap and it's funded until the end of time. We got billionaires out here hitting the cap from less than half of one weekly paycheck.

theguyfromgermany@reddit

If you want to tax billionaires you need to tax wealth, not income.

Delta632@reddit

If you want to tax billionaires you have to repeal citizens united.

TicklishViking@reddit

If you want to tax billionaires you're going to need a revolution. No way Citizens United gets repealed while Citizens United exists.

OffToTheLizard@reddit

2A exists for a reason. Just waiting for these bootlickers to figure out government isn't going to help them.

Go tell that to Alex Pretti

switchsk8r@reddit

increasingly clear the only thing 2a is supposed to protect is the private assets of the wealthy.

Chrono_Pregenesis@reddit

Or remove their income loopholes. Don't allow dividend payments (which only extract value from a company) and dont allow stock options as income payment. Make them earn reportable W2s like everyone else.

jacktacowa@reddit

Regular dividends are ordinary income reported on 1099-DIV. Stock options for officers are another issue.

friendtoallkitties@reddit

Why not both?

Makeshift5@reddit

The Swiss do a fine job of this.

SidKafizz@reddit

Baby steps. Start by treating all income the same. None of this passive income bullshit. Then move on to the next set of loopholes designed to benefit the super wealthy.

datarbeiter@reddit

Billionaires don’t make money from paychecks. Long term capital gains taxes are still 15% and are disconnected from social security.

Yes - hence why I said they don't make it from salaries or wages (being a possible token amount).

Physical_Ad5702@reddit

Congress should stop using the Social Security fund as their go to pool of money for borrowing and start repaying what has already been taken out.

the_pwnererXx@reddit

Or just give people back what they put in...

OuterLightness@reddit

The plan is simple: 1) make a lot of noise blaming the other side, 2) insider trade.

Cultural-Answer-321@reddit

Social security is not and never will be insolvent.

This is billionaire propaganda. Their long play is to forcibly move all the money to the stock market and away from government control.

No, you won't benefit from that.

tbh i have no idea how any of this works... what do you think is going to happen to social security if not insolvency?

refusemouth@reddit

Once the Boomers die out, I'm pretty certain SSI will be scrapped. Or privatized. They will get us all withholding pay to go into stock market rug-pulls and steal it all from us. My retirement plan is how they retire horses with broken legs.

Practical_Hippo6289@reddit

It's going to happen right about the time I would be retiring. Sucks to be me.

Someones_Dream_Guy@reddit

Parasites in congress don't have a retirement fund problem. Working class does.

mooky1977@reddit

Cute thinking we'll make it to the next generation of Senators.

duncansmydog@reddit

Tax the rich

Ffs, get your billionaire's in line.

You are literally the richest country on earth. You can afford tk pay for pensions.

Just fucking tax the rich. Not the high income, hut the high wealth people.

We don’t do common sense in Amerikkka

"Common sense" has been bought by the fabulously wealthy.

Euphoric_Industry271@reddit

The problem in United States politics is that corruption is fully legalized. You can do everything right, elect the candidates they believe say and do all the right things. Then eventually get stabbed in the back because corporate "lobbying" (read bribery) erodes congresspeoples' values down to fucking nothing. Evil people choosing to enter politics for personal gain is an entirely separate conversation.

The now corrupt politicians then do any and everything that's contributed to what's happening in the United States political landscape atm. It's only now that shit has gotten so fucking bad that meaningful change has a chance to take root. But I'm gonna be honest, I'm not holding my breath on that.

Useful_Tomato_409@reddit

Ugh… this isn’t a thing. Stop it.

nickiter@reddit

Sideeyes the DoD budget...

Thehealthygamer@reddit

Oh theres a plan. It's the ICE concentration camps.

TentacularSneeze@reddit

I and many, many others are so very fukt.

This isn’t gonna get fixed, is it? Or is it actually part of the plan? To literally keep everybody working until death?

If death one way or the other is the only option, it’s gonna get real collapsey in six years, seven months, five days, seven hours, twenty-eight minutes, and eleven seconds.

The wealthy elite see those who aren't capable of working as "useless eaters". So yes, they plan to work us all until we die. They aren't smart enough to realize that it won't work out for them in the end though.

IamMichaelBoothby@reddit

So we're paying into a system that we won't even reap the benefits from... Wonderful...

EmergencySushi@reddit

It’s really very simple. You solve this through taxation; everyone needs to pay a bit more tax, and hopefully the wealthier you are, the more you pay.

It’s really not impossible. It’s not even difficult. I’ll leave you figure out how to make it happen.

mikerbt@reddit

There’s no plan. That’s my conclusion.

Megadum@reddit

Dumbest headline. Uncap and it’s fixed. Tax the wealth

desertroot@reddit

Yes, cut the military by 75%, tax the wealthy, and invest in the people.

123-Moondance@reddit

Pay back what they borrowed from it, tax everybody including the highest earners - tax them more. F these people.

Samvega_California@reddit

These "clocks" are just scare tactics that have no basis in reality. The federal government can't run out of money. All federal spending is literally money creation. There is no need to need for the federal government to collect revenue in order for the government to spend.

The real concern about the debt and deficit is an inflationary concern. If too many government bonds are issued, or if the government spends beyond the productive capacity of the economy, it inflates the money supply and makes currency worth less.

To better understand these ideas, I recommend reading "The Deficit Myth" (or using your favorite LLM to explore the idea of Modern Monetary Theory).