Reports: Trumpublican Tax Cuts Are Depleting Money from Social Security & Medicare Even FASTER.

[CousinIT]

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/medicare-social-security-forecasts-show-no-sign-of-trumps-promised-growth

Medicare’s trust fund for inpatient care will become insolvent in 2026, three years earlier than previously expected, the trustees reported Tuesday. The insolvency date for Social Security stayed steady, with a projection of 2034. That does not mean, however, that the funds will be exhausted by those dates. Rather, those are the dates that the programs’ costs will exceed the tax revenue coming in. The report found that the programs will be able to cover about three-quarters of promised benefits for the next half-century without any policy changes.

Announcing the report, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin insisted that the tax cuts Republicans passed earlier this year will generate so much economic activity that they will more than cover the benefits of the tens of millions of American who depend on the programs.

“The Administration’s economic agenda – tax cuts, regulatory reform, and improved trade agreements – will generate the long-term growth needed to help secure these programs and lead them to a more stable path,” he said. “Social Security and Medicare are the federal government’s two largest programs, and millions of Americans heavily rely on their benefits. Robust economic growth will help to ensure their lasting stability.”

Tuesday’s report shows, however, that not only has that promised growth failed to materialize, the deep tax cuts are causing the federal trust funds to deplete faster — though the biggest factor is that there are more people retiring and depending on the program than there are taxpaying workers to replace them. The report itself also acknowledged that the tax bill’s health care changes are worsening the Medicare trust fund’s financial future, citing “the repeal of the individual mandate, which increased the estimate of the number of uninsured, in turn leading to a large increase in uncompensated care payments.”

Responding to the new report, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi faulted to the GOP tax bill’s impact on declining tax revenues.

“The GOP tax scam’s massive, unpaid-for giveaways to the wealthiest 1 percent and big corporations have gravely undermined the future of Medicare and Social Security, and now Republicans want America’s seniors to pay the bill,” she said in a statement.

[Wellstone ruled]

1. This seems to have been baked into the cake by

Paul Ryan from the get go. And one wonders where the hell all the talk of cutting Social Security and Medicare payments came from.

Every one who has ever taken a Econ Course could see this coming.

[SunSeeker]

2. K & R for exposure.