Dear Editor:
Social Security is funded by taxpayer "contributions." Medicaid is just one of hundreds of government's income redistribution welfare plans. They should not be lumped in the same basket during "entitlement" discussions.
The federal government extorts 12.4 percent of every dollar earned by virtually all American workers. If you are self-employed you directly pay the full 12.4 percent. If you are someone's employee the government hides the amount you pay by having your employer take out half of the amount before your check is cut. The money is deposited in the Social Security Trust Fund, which then pays out benefits to Social Security recipients. That fund currently has a balance of over $2.8 trillion, the largest in history. In 2016 the fund balance grew by $35 billion. With the exception of a few years in the late '70s, Social Security has been a "cash cow" for the federal government. Workers always paid in more than was paid out in benefits. The Feds wrote the Trust Fund an IOU and blew the annual excess on wasteful spending.
In 2015 the Trustees Report projected that the Trust Fund balance will reach zero in 2035. If nothing is done before then the worst case scenario is that benefits will be cut across the board by 23 percent. Adjustments need to be made to help maintain the solvency of the funds.
In 1983 Congress raised the retirement age of people born in 1938 or later. The age slowly increased from 65 until, for people born in 1960, it reached 67. The average life expectancy for a person born in 1940 was 62.9 years, for someone born in 1960 it was 69.7 years. Based on our increased life expectancy and such things as OSHA mandated improvements to job site safety, it only seems reasonable that the retirement age continue to climb, perhaps at a rate of 1 month every 2 years. The retirement age for a person born in 1983 would then be 68, the life expectancy for a person born in 1983 was 74.6. Retirement age increased a year while life expectancy increased 4.9 years. (There are many ways to look at life expectancy.)
Why has Congress refused to address this issue? Are they are more interested in getting re-elected, so they can continue feathering their own nests, than in the good of the American people?
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