(RepublicanReport.org) – The future of Social Security is increasingly becoming a hot topic of debate among lawmakers and presidential candidates. The Social Security Administration’s latest figures showed that 70.6 million people received benefits from programs administered by the agency in 2022, meaning a misstep on the campaign trail could lead to a disaster.
A recent report indicated that former President Donald Trump has a potentially serious Social Security problem.
Trump’s Social Security Dilemma
On March 28, Newsweek published a report detailing Trump’s current problems associated with Social Security. The article began by recapping the former president’s March 11 appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” program.
Host Joe Kernen pointed out that the country is facing a “$33,$34 trillion debt” with limited talk of spending cuts. He asked Trump if he had changed his outlook on handling Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare.
Trump responded that he thought there was “a lot” the country could do “in terms of entitlements in terms of cutting” them. He also predicted the government would “weaken social security because the country is weak.”
Biden quickly jumped on those remarks on his X/Twitter account. He posted two statements that included clips of Trump’s CNBC appearance. The first statement warned, “Social Security and Medicare are on the ballot.” The second one declared, “Not on my watch.”
Newsweek pointed out that Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt attempted to walk back those statements during a subsequent interview with CNN. However, the noted periodical warned that “the damage was done,” adding that voters will be keeping “a keen eye” on Social Security policy in the days and weeks leading up to the November election.
What Does This Mean?
There is ample support for Trump’s claim that the government needs to resolve issues regarding waste within the administration of the Social Security program. For instance, the US Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS) recently issued a detailed discussion and analysis of America’s “unsustainable fiscal path.”
That report warned that increased spending on Social Security and other health programs “is projected to result in increasing primary deficit ratios” that could reach as high as 4.4% of the nation’s GDP by 2043. The BFS attributed that alarming figure to payouts to retiring members of the baby boom generation, a trend known as “the greying of America.”
The Congressional Budget Office’s latest report provides an even grimmer outlook. The federal agency projected that Social Security’s Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund would run out of funds in fiscal year 2032. Likewise, its related Disability Insurance Trust Fund will exhaust its resources sometime in the calendar year 2052.
It remains unclear whether voters will consider Trump’s prior comments regarding Social Security when they head to the ballot box in November or whether he will continue to discuss the topic between now and then. Time will tell.
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