Social Security disability advocates sounded like a broken record for much of 2015 due to the impending insolvency the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Trust Fund was facing. Just a quick refresher, the SSDI Trust Fund was in danger of being so depleted in 2016 that it would only be able to pay SSDI beneficiaries about 80 percent of their total benefits. Keep in mind, SSDI beneficiaries are disabled workers who worked long enough to pay into the SSDI Trust Fund to be eligible for benefits, so it was a vested system.
Luckily President Barack Obama and Congress compromised on a budget deal that transferred funds from the Old Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund to the SSDI Trust Fund making it solvent through 2022. Although 2022 seems like it is a ways off, let me remind you it’s actually only six years away.
For decades advocates and politicians have been declaring that a permanent fix to Social Security needs to be found, but considering you are dealing with benefits for seniors, the poor and disabled, it remains a hot-button issue that politicians have neglected and have passed the buck on for quite some time.
The decision to delay substantial changes to Social Security benefits is political procrastination at its finest. Sooner or later substantial changes will have to be made and we have to look at how the two parties have analyzed the dilemma. Many Republicans have contended that Social Security benefits need to be cut because taxes cannot increase. Many Democrats have suggested that taxes be increased on more wealthy Americans to not only save Social Security benefits, but to increase them. I have a sense that the majority of Americans would opt for the Democratic viewpoint as Social Security is a program that touches every American’s life in some form. If we cannot stand-up and ensure that our seniors, poor and disabled can get by just a little bit easier then what really matters what else we may stand-up for?
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