WASHINGTON (Nexstar) – The government says by the year 2032, it won’t be able to pay Social Security recipients their full benefits unless Congress acts.
Government projections say the Social Security fund won’t have enough money in nine years.
“If Congress doesn’t do anything, we would have an immediate 23% cut in the benefits for everybody,” said Peterson Foundation CEO Michael Peterson.
Peterson says those cuts would result in a $7,000 a year loss for current Social Security recipients. He says part of the problem is about ten thousand baby boomers are retiring every day.
“Every time someone retires, it’s a double whammy because they stop paying in and start taking out,” Peterson explained.
Right now, Social Security taxes are only deducted from income below $160,000 per year. However, Democrats are rallying behind a bill they say would fully fund Social Security for the next 75 years by making any income above $250,000 subject to the Social Security tax.
The Social Security Expansion Act was introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders and is co-sponsored by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.
“Millionaires pay a much lower percentage of their income than everybody else,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) said. “I think we can agree if you earn a million dollars a year, you should be paying your fair share.”
While Democrats say the bill would make the system more fair, it is unlikely to become law anytime soon because it has no Republican co-sponsors.
Separately, a bipartisan group of senators have also been meeting to try to come up with a solution before it’s too late.
