GOP battle erupts over Social Security bill

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Hill

12/18/24 6:00 AM ET


Republican senators battled behind closed doors Tuesday over a proposal to beef up Social Security benefits for people who are eligible for non-Social Security government pensions. The legislation, which has passed the House, is expected to reach the Senate floor Wednesday, but some Republicans who are worried about its price tag are hoping to stop it dead.

One GOP senator who attended Tuesday’s meeting described it as “an intense discussion.” “I think most of our members were alarmed that something so big” would come straight to the Senate floor, the senator said, noting that the legislation had not been marked up by the Senate Finance Committee.

A group of Senate conservatives led by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) are demanding Social Security reforms, such as gradually raising the retirement age, to offset the cost of repealing two policies that reduce Social Security benefits for public-sector workers. Paul says the bill, which has 14 Senate Republican co-sponsors, would lead Social Security to become insolvent more quickly.

“It speeds the bankruptcy of Social Security. Social Security is due to go bankrupt in 2034. This will speed it up by a year or so. It’s $200 billion added to a program that is already short of money,” he told The Hill. He wants senators to vote on an amendment to offset the bill’s impact on the Social Security trust fund by gradually raising the retirement age to 70.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5045437-senate-battle-social-security-benefits/

[FalloutShelter]

1. Cut the crap. Raise the cap!

Everybody….

[Bengus81]

7. Cut off in 2025 is a mere $176,100 of income.

If your a CEO or otherwise bagging $10M per year you'll be done paying into social security system after the first week of Jan 2025. Wonder why it's going broke?? Duhhhhh

[FalloutShelter]

8. Right?

This is the simplest fix in the history of fixes.

[mitch96]

13. 0OOooo I like that line... It slips off the tongue real easy, rhymes and gets the point across...bravo!..nt

[FakeNoose]

2. How much is Elon Musk paying into his own Social Security account?

Or any of the one-per-centers for that matter?

[Hekate]

10. Pocket change -- less, really

[jayschool2013]

3. This affects me

I worked full-time for the state of Colorado (high school and university educator) for 23 years in a job that was covered only by the Colorado Public Employee Retirement Association. I left Colorado nearly eight years ago at age 55 and started receiving a pension then. It is about 60 percent of my highest average salary.

But I've also worked full-time for 20 years in jobs that paid into the Social Security system.

Because of the Windfall Elimination Provision, my Social Security benefit will be reduced by nearly $600 per month because I have that Colorado PERA pension as well.

I earned a full SS benefit. I won't get it unless this bill passes or if I work until I'm 75.

Included in the bill is an elimination of the Government Pension Offset.

[republianmushroom]

4. MAGA goobers, live and learn.

[Hotler]

5. Have thery paid back the I.O.U.'s yet? nt

[nmmi]

6. The IOUs are in the process of being paid back. Since 2021 SS income has fallen short of SS benefits and trust fund

securities are being cashed in to make up the difference.
https://www.ssa.gov/oact/trsum/

Table 4: TRUST FUND OPERATIONS, 2023
....................... OASI DI
Net change in Reserves -70.4 29.0
. . .
Since 2021, the OASI Trust Fund has been drawing down asset reserves to finance benefits and will require increasing amounts of asset redemptions during the next decade. The OASI Trust Fund has a projected reserve depletion date of 2033, the same year as in last year’s report.

The DI Trust Fund is projected to remain solvent throughout the long-range period, as in last year’s report. The DI trust fund ratio increases throughout the projection period from 92 percent at the beginning of 2024 to 858 percent for 2098.

The Trustees project that the combined OASI and DI Trust Fund reserves will continue to decrease in 2024 because total cost ($1,482 billion) is expected to exceed total income ($1,382 billion). For OASDI, the Trustees project that total cost will exceed total income in all future years, as it has starting in 2021.

The process is automatic and will continue unless Congress changes the law

[Genevra]

18. make Congress pay back the money they "borrowed" for defense spending

N/T

[cer7711]

9. Raise the cap! Problem solved. This is a no-brainer.

Or should be.

[DENVERPOPS]

11. Not sure it is still the case,

but in the past, there were many who actually were "double and triple dipping" for a most comfortable retirement by merely working the systems..........

[mitch96]

14. "double and triple dipping" ... I'm curious on how this is done...nt

[DENVERPOPS]

16. They may have limited this somewhat

But a person, fireman for instance would work for 20 years, get a rather nice retirement and benefits
Then work like a post office employee or other gov't job for 20 years and retire from that,
Then work a civilian job for the required period to collect SSI..........

It seems they did something to limit the amount of SSI if you had another pension? But it wasn't enough to
totally eliminate it?????

Until recently, cops and firefighters would go to a particular Dr a week before retirement, he would declare them permanently disabled from their work, and therefore their retirement would not be taxed....

There are tons of con jobs out there. Also Worker's Comp is another one that people abuse....

[IbogaProject]

12. To save a little, maybe make the Senate and House only get Social Security.

Let's abolish their pensions and health care make them struggle like most of us. I'd be interested to hear their attitude on that money saving proposal. [note I don't want to force them to be corrupt to live after serving, just a rhetorical point]

[LudwigPastorius]

15. All Rand Paul, and the GOP, have to do is raise the retirement age past the average life expectancy.

Just think of all the dough they'll have to give to the 1%!

[cstanleytech]

17. Raise the fucking taxes on the wealthy and corporations you asshats!!! Its your failed policy failures caused this.

A raising of it "might" have been ok if you're Republican economic policies over the last 60 decades had worked but they have done nothing except benefit the wealthy at the cost of fucking everyone else up the ass without even the common decency to use any lube.

[valleyrogue]

19. SS isn't "going bankrupt." The GOP knows this.

They have been pulling this generational warfare bullshit since the early 1980s, when Koch and his ilk decided they were going to exploit the most pessimistic projections (out of three possible scenarios) simply because his ilk don't want to pay their half of FICA. That is all it ever was--naked greed.

No federal program can "go bankrupt." The federal government has something called "sovereign currency"--it prints its own money. Even if there were a real "shortfall," any difference can be made up by tapping the general fund.

It is all bullshit. Furthermore, since cloture was invoked today by a vote of 73 to 27, the bill will easily pass the Senate, and President Biden will sign the repeal.

[nmmi]

20. Intermediate projections, according to 4 high Democratic officials including Sec of Treasury Janet Yellen

https://www.ssa.gov/oact/trsum/

It presents results based on the Trustees’ best estimates of likely future demographic, economic, and program-specific conditions, which are referred to as the intermediate set of assumptions in the Trustees Reports.1

. . .

The Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund will be able to pay 100 percent of total scheduled benefits until 2033, unchanged from last year's report. At that time, the fund's reserves will become depleted and continuing program income will be sufficient to pay 79 percent of scheduled benefits.

. . .

If the OASI Trust Fund and the DI Trust Fund projections are combined, the resulting projected fund (designated OASDI) would be able to pay 100 percent of total scheduled benefits until 2035, one year later than reported last year. At that time, the projected fund's reserves will become depleted and continuing total fund income will be sufficient to pay 83 percent of scheduled benefits. (The two funds could not actually be combined unless there were a change in the law, but the combined projection of the two funds is frequently used to indicate the overall status of the Social Security program.)

. . .

By the Trustees:

Janet Yellen,
Secretary of the Treasury,
and Managing Trustee of the Trust Funds.


Xavier Becerra,
Secretary of Health and Human Services,
and Trustee.


Julie A. Su,
Acting Secretary of Labor,
and Trustee.


Martin O'Malley,
Commissioner of Social Security,
and Trustee.

...

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

21. K&R

[HereForTheParty]

22. I wonder if our Congress critters will benefit from this?

Seems they would.

[Rebl2]

23. My idiot

Senator Hawley promised during his campaign this year he would not vote to do anything to social security that would hurt people who paid in. Do I believe him—no. At least that is something to throw in his face when goes along with gop goons to cut SS. He will make a lot of republicans in MO angry if he goes along with gop goons.