Sunshine Sentinel

If Social Security is to survive, it will need both responsible management and a hefty dose of economic growth. Continuing to use it as a political football the way the political establishment has in the past is no longer an option for the millions of Americans depending on it to help them make it through retirement.

Throughout the second half of the 20th century, politicians on both sides of the aisle eagerly expanded benefits during times of prosperity and relied on the Social Security Trust Fund to shoulder the financial burden during lean economic times. The inevitable consequences of this irresponsible approach were largely ignored, as politicians and voters alike judged that the problem would somehow be solved before the final reckoning was at hand. We no longer have the luxury of that mindset. Social Security and Medicare are both expected to face a  funding crunch within the next 20 years, at which point benefits will have to be scaled back to a fraction of what they are today — a change that will affect many current retirees as well as people who are nearing retirement today.

Ignoring the looming collapse will do nothing to avert that outcome; it will simply hang some of the nation’s most vulnerable citizens out to dry. The only way to keep Social Security and Medicare solvent for current and future generations of Americans is to shore up their finances — and that can either be accomplished through responsible management and economic growth, or by significantly raising taxes on working Americans.

The Trump administration has opted for the first approach, focusing on expanding the tax base while trimming expenses through improved efficiencies and more effective management, protecting current recipients in the process. Before the coronavirus pandemic turned the world upside down and temporarily brought the economy to an artificial halt, this strategy was beginning to pay dividends. Last year’s annual report from the Social Security Administration  showed that the crisis point for Medicare had stopped creeping closer, while the Social Security disability fund had gained an incredible 20 years of solvency compared to the previous year’s projections.

Democrat nominee Joe Biden’s platform embraces the other approach, but with a major wrinkle. Biden wants to significantly increase the payroll taxes that fund Social Security, but is simultaneously proposing major benefit expansions that would put an even greater strain on the program’s fiscal reserves. At the same time, he wants to  lower the age of Medicare eligibility from 65 to 60, which would significantly expand the number of recipients drawing from that program’s already depleted reserves. That’s a cruel trick to play on existing recipients when most Ameircans are still productive earners at the age of 60 

Frankly, it’s difficult to view Biden’s proposal as anything other than crass political pandering — especially in light of his own record. During his long tenure in the United States Senate, Biden demonstrated that he is well aware of the Social Security system’s fiscal peril.

The truth of the matter is that for decades, Joe Biden has  entertained a variety of drastic measures to keep Social Security solvent, including raising the age of eligibility, raising taxes, and reducing benefits — “you’ve got to put all of it on the table,” Biden himself has said.

Nearly  5 million Floridians currently receive Social Security benefits, including almost 4 million senior citizens. About  4.5 million Florida residents, meanwhile, are enrolled in Medicare and Medicare Advantage. All of them are depending on the federal government to get its act together and adopt a sensible, sustainable approach that allows both programs to continue providing full benefits to everyone who is entitled to them.

We need to stop playing politics with an issue that deeply affects the health and well-being of people who worked hard their whole lives with an expectation that the government would live up to its promises. We need responsible management, not the sort of empty promises that put us in this position in the first place.  

– Julio Gonzalez founded Engineered Tax Services