One of the primary pledges made by former President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee, if they take control of the White House and Congress in November, is to protect Social Security. They vow they would "accomplish very quickly."
According to the program, "FIGHT FOR AND PROTECT SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE WITHOUT CUTS, INCLUDING NO CHANGES TO THE RETIREMENT AGE."
But with this pledge, Trump and the Republicans have limited choices for dealing with the impending deficits in both entitlement programs. Though Republicans have generally opposed raising payroll taxes, the solutions that have been proposed include slowing or stopping the growth of benefits, raising the retirement age, and increasing payroll taxes, either by raising the threshold on income subject to the levy or by increasing the rate for everyone.
The party platform, according to Jason Fichtner, chief economist of the Bipartisan Policy Center and a former acting deputy commissioner of Social Security, "isn't a genuine policy prescription to save Social Security." It postpones making any modifications for a further four years. That only implies that whatever adjustments we must make will be more significant.
“Congress is running out of time to find a way to save the popular programs. According to the annual report from the Social Security trustees, the combined trust funds, which sustain monthly benefits to the elderly, survivors, and individuals with disabilities, are anticipated to run out in 2035. After that, just 83% of the benefits payable will be covered by payroll tax receipts and other sources of income. Medicare Part A, the hospital insurance trust fund, will only be able to cover 89% of planned benefits in 2036."
According to Andrew Biggs, a senior fellow at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, Trump is not giving himself any leeway by vowing not to reduce Social Security payments or raise the retirement age, which many proponents view as a benefit cut.
Biggs, who was the main deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration prior to joining the institute, stated that there is a mathematical reason for Donald Trump's preference to never reduce benefits for anyone at any point.
Significant tax increases would be necessary to support Social Security by raising money. The payroll tax rate would need to rise by 3.33% to 15.73% right now, or by 4.02% to 16.42% if nothing is done until the trust funds are exhausted, according to the program's trustees' calculations.
Similarly, the trustees of Medicare have recommended an immediate increase in the payroll tax from 2.9% to 3.25%.
Additionally, President Joe Biden has pledged not to reduce benefits. Rather, he has suggested increasing taxes on Americans with higher incomes in order to provide more financial stability for the entitlement programs. He has unveiled a more comprehensive plan to tackle Medicare's solvency issue, but he hasn't given as much information about how to completely resolve Social Security's financial problems.
Biggs claimed that by stating they would not reduce benefits, both candidates had put themselves in a precarious situation.
He declared, "Never before have the presidential candidates of the two parties been closer in their positions on Social Security."
