Social Security

Mitch McConnell on Rising Deficit: ‘It’s Not a Republican Problem'

By Yuval Rosenberg

The quotes: “It’s disappointing, but it’s not a Republican problem. It’s a bipartisan problem: unwillingness to address the real drivers of the debt by doing anything to adjust those programs to the...
A Fiscal Hawk’s New Plan to ‘Avert a Debt Crisis’

By Yuval Rosenberg

The national debt rose by more than $1 trillion in fiscal 2018, and yet lawmakers have evinced little concern about it ahead of this year’s elections, instead pushing tax cuts and spending increases...
How GOP Rhetoric on Entitlements Has Changed

By The Fiscal Times Staff

The Washington Post’s David Weigel describes how Republicans have changed their tune on Medicare and, for this year at least, largely abandoned the idea of entitlement reform: “[O]ver eight years,...
Kudlow: ‘I Don’t Buy’ That Tax Cuts Boosted Deficit

By Yuval Rosenberg

Larry Kudlow is at it again. Speaking at the Economic Club of New York, the top economic adviser to President Trump said that, while the administration is looking to cut federal spending — including...
Social Security Pulled 27 Million People Out of Poverty in 2017

By Michael Rainey

Since 2011, the U.S. Census Bureau has produced a more sophisticated measure of poverty that, among other things, includes the income effects of government assistance programs such as Social Security...

‘Things Are So Much Worse’ – but Does Anyone Care About the Deficit?

By Yuval Rosenberg

As we told you yesterday , the Congressional Budget Office estimated this week that the deficit for the first 11 months of fiscal 2018 totaled $895 billion, or $222 billion more than it was over the...
Social Security’s Troubling Trend

By The Fiscal Times Staff

Unequal gains in life expectancy over the last half-century between Americans with greater earnings and education and those of lower socioeconomic status mean that the benefits of Social Security are...
Trump Says He Made Social Security, Medicare Stronger. Fact-Checker Says False.

By The Fiscal Times Staff

President Trump said this week that "Democrats want to destroy Medicare. If you look at what they’re doing, they’re going to destroy Medicare. And we will save it. We will keep it going. We’re making...
Happy Birthday, Social Security!

By Michael Rainey

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law 83 years ago today, August 14, 1935. Here are some key facts about the program, courtesy of the Center on Budget and Policy...
The Deficit Is Up 20% This Year

By The Fiscal Times Staff

The federal deficit was 20 percent larger in the first 10 months of fiscal year 2018 than it was during the same time last year, the Congressional Budget Office announced Wednesday. Revenues rose 1...

Medicare Finances Worsen, Social Security Will Tap Reserves for First Time in 36 Years

By Yuval Rosenberg

Medicare’s financial problems worsened last year while Social Security still faces a significant long-term financial crunch — and will need to tap into its reserves for the first time in 36 years,...
Why More Retirees Are Waiting to Claim Social Security

By Michael Rainey

Retirees are waiting longer to claim their Social Security benefits, reports Mark Miller of Reuters, with the number of early claimants dropping dramatically in recent years: “As recently as 2004,...
Election Ad Wars 2018: GOP Focuses on Immigration, Dems on Health Care

By Yuval Rosenberg

The 2018 elections are 160 days away, but the campaign ad wars are already well under way, with Republicans and Democrats focusing on very different issues so far — though the election is clearly...
The Unintended Consequence of Letting Workers Take Social Security at Age 62

By Michael Rainey

With the Social Security system facing insolvency by 2034, one option to address the program’s fiscal shortfall is to raise the early retirement age of 62. While little is known about the effects...
US Fertility Just Hit a 30-Year Low. Why That's a Problem for Social Security

By Michael Rainey

Births in the U.S. fell to a multi-decade low last year, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics released Tuesday. The provisional estimate shows 3.85 million births in the U...