> In my research for the book I came to the odd conclusion that
> Social Security is doing a lot better job than I expected.
> Most of the popular criticism seems to be political
> posturing.
Part of the problem is whether you are talking about Social Security
retirement; or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).
Lots of folks don't understand the difference. The original SS retirement fund
was created in 1935 and is on pretty sound footing
(although it was better before payments into the fund were cut in 2010). But
SSDI wasn't created until 1956 (and has been greatly
broadened since then). It has more or less constantly been in trouble since
1967, and still is.
SSDI is currently expected to run out of money in less than two years, so
action on that is urgently needed. Unfortunately at this
late date, the only solutions appear to be either more funding from some other
source (like increasing taxes or robbing the SS fund)
or a drastic cut in benefits to people that have already qualified (or both).
The least politically painful move would probably be
to shift payroll taxes from SS to SSDI, but of course that will hasten the
problem with SS.
Randall
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