The Editors are correct in their latest piece on Social Security. They point out that leading presidential candidates are both ignoring the fact that Social Security and Medicare will go insolvent and bashing Republicans who dare to be honest with the American people. This a tack that previously only Democrats took.
Social Security will be insolvent within the next decade. Medicare will be insolvent in even less time. By law, when Social Security hits insolvency, there will be a 23 percent cut in Social Security benefits. But as I’ve written in the pages of the National Review, there is a serious, thoughtful, bipartisan proposal in Congress that can offer us a third way.
Our working group came up with a solution that prevents the 23 percent benefit cut without any major adjustments to benefits or taxes. We call it the “Big Idea.” We create a fund separate from Social Security, and we invest that fund in the long-term strength of the U.S. economy. As that money grows, we use it to shore up the Social Security Trust Fund, make the program fairer, and save it for all future generations.
Informed by over two years of research and collaboration, we had a comprehensive product with significant support. The highest levels of the White House were aware and read in, but they saw the issue as political fodder for Biden’s reelection campaign.
We could take serious steps towards saving Social Security tomorrow if there were a president in the White House willing to work with Congress. Unfortunately, front-runners seem more interested in cowering behind talking points than in meeting this challenge.