Social Security took center stage at last night’s Republican presidential debate, emerging as a key issue among candidates at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. Not since President Bush’s ill-fated attempt to reform the social insurance program in 2005 have Republicans talked this much about Social Security. Of course, …
Social Security faces the serious danger of failing to live up to its name due to its unfunded obligations. Last week, the Social Security and Medicare trustees issued their report on the fiscal outlook for the program. We reported that: Social Security has a $7.9 trillion shortfall (up $0.1 trillion …
Almost as soon as the 2010 Social Security trustees report comes out today, various groups will claim that the program is fiscally healthy because its trust fund won’t run out until sometime in the 2030s. Sadly, the reality is very different. The trust fund contains promises to pay—not real money. …
In February, we reported that in 2010, Social Security would start running deficits in 2010. Well, Social Security deficits have officially arrived, as analyst Michael Barone lays out in the Washington Examiner: Social Security tax receipts for the first half of 2010: $346.9 billion; Social Security benefits payments for the …
