[ad_1]
President Biden has released a budget that calls for tax increases to strengthen Social Security, while President Donald Trump has signaled he would consider “cutting” benefits if elected this fall.
Monday’s exchange between the two candidates showed how Social Security is likely to be a top issue in the upcoming election campaign. Whoever wins this November will be central to the next presidential term.
Bankruptcy and across-the-board benefit cuts loom as a possibility for the program in 2034.
Biden’s proposed budget did not provide a detailed plan for Social Security, but it did not include any cuts to benefits, which Biden’s budget director, Shalanda Young, called “the president’s ironclad promise.” He called for parliamentary negotiations based on the content.
He also made it clear that the president’s position on the issue focuses on increasing payroll taxes to make up for future shortfalls.
“If you make $1 million in this country, you’ll be paying into Social Security by the end of February,” Young told reporters. “Is that fair? We don’t think so.”
The topic briefly came up in a wide-ranging interview with President Trump on CNBC. The former president, and Biden’s likely rival this fall, responded to questions about Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the national debt, suggesting the problems could be solved through efficiency.
“There’s a lot that can be done in terms of rights reductions and even theft and mismanagement of rights,” he told Anchor, without providing much additional detail, including whether his proposed reductions would apply. He spoke without touching. It would also include cutting benefits for program participants.
Biden’s plan
Biden’s entire 2025 budget was developed while the 2024 budget is still under deliberation, and includes a series of tax increases on corporations and wealthy Americans, new spending on social programs, and about $3 trillion over 10 years. Includes deficit reduction.
Like all presidential budgets in recent years, this one has no chance of passing, Brian Gardner, Steifel’s chief Washington policy strategist, said in a note to clients, “but the 2024 campaign… “As it gets underway, it remains important for the political message this budget sends.” Up. “
However, details regarding social security were still somewhat lacking.
A year ago, Biden announced a budget that opposed any cuts to Social Security, but would make new investments in the program other than increasing the Social Security Administration’s operating budget to improve customer service, among other things. No details are shown.
It drew criticism at the time, and it appears to be much the same this time.
Like last year, Biden’s fiscal year 2025 budget focuses on increasing the solvency of Medicare, which is scheduled to reach bankruptcy sooner.
The budget proposes a $1.3 billion increase in funding for the Social Security Administration itself for staffing, customer service, and other operational issues.
But the bigger issues seem to be on hold for now. Lawmakers last year discussed ideas to boost solvency, but abruptly halted their efforts as the election season intensified and the realization that no action was likely to be taken until 2025 at the earliest.
“My hope is that once the political season is over, sanity will return,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) said in a recent interview with Yahoo Finance.
And, with a recent Government Trustees report finding that Social Security will be in financial crisis within a decade if Congress does not act, the problem will only get worse in the coming years. It will be something you can’t do.
The program only has the funds to continue paying 100% of benefits through 2034. Benefits could then be reduced by about 23% overall.
President Trump focuses on ‘extremely bad management’
President Trump floated the idea of cuts in response to a question about rights and debt on CNBC, highlighting what he said was mismanagement on the show.
“There’s a huge mismanagement of rights. There’s a tremendous amount of things that could be done,” he said, quickly adding that Biden would undermine Social Security “because the country is weak.” They moved on to other topics such as planning. Using oil drilling to pay off the national debt.
The “cut” comment was criticized by the Biden campaign. immediately cropped and highlighted Biden’s account was reposted, promising he was “not monitoring.”
The situation continues to wax and wane as both the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds are at risk. The main Medicare trust fund could run out of money as early as 2028, according to a recent Government Trustees report.
Biden’s budget proposal includes changes to health care programs for the elderly, including a plan to implement “permanent” solvency fixes through a combination of tax increases and policies that are expected to slow the growth of health care costs in coming decades. Details have been included.
Ben Werschkul is Yahoo Finance’s Washington correspondent.
Click here for business and money-related political news
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
[ad_2]
Source link
