Thursday, May 31, 2012

Here come the automatic Social Security cuts

I've been warning for years that current law requires that when the Social Security Trust Fund runs out of government bonds, benefits must be cut to match incoming revenues.  For most Americans, that means an automatic 25% cut in benefits.  But there's a much more immediate, much worse benefit cut than sending monthly checks to Baby Boomers.  WashPost: "Social Security disability trust fund projected to run out of cash in 2016."
A government entitlement program is headed for insolvency in four years, and it’s not the one members of Congress are talking about most.
The Social Security disability program’s trust fund is projected to run out of cash far sooner than the better-known Social Security retirement plan or Medicare. That will trigger a 21 percent cut in benefits to 11 million Americans — people with disabilities, plus their spouses and children — many of whom rely on the program to stay out of poverty.
Don't worry, though: Washington will break through and find a solution.
Neither President Obama nor House Republicans in their proposed budgets has addressed the disability program’s shortfall.
Oh well.

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