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CousinIT

(12,330 posts)
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 10:23 AM 12 hrs ago

Seniors on Social Security Could Face $460 Monthly Cut to Benefits - Republicans are fine with that.

https://www.newsweek.com/seniors-on-social-security-could-face-460-monthly-cut-to-benefits-11417911

It's not "insolvency". Social Security will always pay benefits as long as workers and employers continue to pay into it. That's not "insolvent". It's not "bankruptcy" or "broke".

IT'S A SHORTFALL that can be easily fixed by LIFTING THE CAP and other small adjustments.

BILLIONAIRES & Corporations hate it & want it gone because they don't want to pay ANYTHING into it. They will SCREEAAAM bloody murder if they have to pay more into it if the cap is lifted. So they are lobbying Congress to CUT SENIORS' BENEFITS instead.



_ _ _ _ _

Kevin Thompson, the CEO of 9i Capital Group and the host of the 9innings podcast, said it’s unlikely that Congress and the SSA would allow a benefit cut to actually transpire for seniors who’ve spent their working years paying into the system.

"In no way do I expect Social Security to see a monthly benefit cut. The reality is simple: the people receiving Social Security actually vote and they show up consistently. No politician survives arguing for cutting benefits to the most reliable voting bloc in the country. That makes this scenario highly unlikely,” Thompson told Newsweek.

He continued: “At the same time, the government continues to spend aggressively in areas where the U.S. already leads the world by multiples, particularly military spending. Asking Americans to justify endless war spending while cutting support for their own citizens is not a tradeoff most people will tolerate over the long term.”

Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, echoed Thompson’s sentiment.

“They know the alternative would be catastrophic for not just those affected by cuts, but their political careers, as well,” Beene told Newsweek. “However, it’s still a great reminder for soon-to-be retirees to not rely completely on that monthly check. Save in your 401k and IRA with the anticipation Social Security may be cut to make sure you’ll have enough to cover any possible funding gap.”
36 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Seniors on Social Security Could Face $460 Monthly Cut to Benefits - Republicans are fine with that. (Original Post) CousinIT 12 hrs ago OP
CUT THE CRAP...RAISE THE CAP... FalloutShelter 11 hrs ago #1
Very catchy! PatSeg 11 hrs ago #10
Eliminate the cap. mobeau69 11 hrs ago #14
Here's another cap to get rid of. Beartracks 9 hrs ago #33
Kill the cap! Americanme 10 hrs ago #20
Cap and crap maliaSmith 10 hrs ago #21
I like that! Good campaign slogan! n/t CousinIT 8 hrs ago #34
Like most problems, the longer we wait to fix it, the worse it will be. Midnight Writer 11 hrs ago #2
Must we not forget, popsdenver 10 hrs ago #23
Liars. Raise the cap. I am certain Elon and the rest of these greed-bags would travelingthrulife 11 hrs ago #3
Eliminate the cap. mobeau69 10 hrs ago #15
The wealthy need another tax cut. So they raid the Emile 11 hrs ago #4
Along with popsdenver 10 hrs ago #24
Yep. Nasty ole social Darwinists. The masters of social engineering Gum Logger 9 hrs ago #29
Trump is still pissed off popsdenver 9 hrs ago #32
Sometimes, I wonder if Republicans came from another planet? chouchou 11 hrs ago #5
Planet Greed, Ruled By The God Mammon. ColoringFool 10 hrs ago #16
Save into your IRA and 401K...if your job barely pays renting from a slumlord? haele 11 hrs ago #6
The entire Trump crime syndicate are billionaires. They have no CLUE CousinIT 8 hrs ago #35
If they do Rebl2 11 hrs ago #7
Cut someone's social security by fifty percent and that someone will go to DC and shoot someone responsible in the head. pecosbob 11 hrs ago #8
+1 They'd better outlaw public weapons first leftstreet 11 hrs ago #11
I know at least four people who will do exactly that 31st Street Bridge 9 hrs ago #30
Go for it orangecrush 11 hrs ago #9
Also popsdenver 9 hrs ago #25
Another bad economic policy Johonny 11 hrs ago #12
Our waiting for the trust fund crisis is political malpractice gulliver 11 hrs ago #13
The main reason Social Security is in trouble, dugog55 10 hrs ago #17
HWBush was running things for 12 long years popsdenver 9 hrs ago #27
Easy-Peasy. After All, Meals Cost Only $3.00. ColoringFool 10 hrs ago #18
Unless we elect a progressive president in 2028, and the senate kills the filibuster, they will wait to fix Fiendish Thingy 10 hrs ago #19
You damn old people are getting all my money! Wonder Why 10 hrs ago #22
Democrats should put fixing timms139 9 hrs ago #26
But this won't effect Elon's tax cut, right? OH DEAR JESUS PLEASE CONFIRM THAT ELON WILL BE OK. Miles Archer 9 hrs ago #28
This is not accurate: markodochartaigh 9 hrs ago #31
Raise the cap to include the effect of all inflation in necessities snot 5 hrs ago #36

popsdenver

(1,781 posts)
23. Must we not forget,
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 12:26 PM
10 hrs ago

Reagan DOUBLING the deduction for SSI......"To save Social Security".................7.5% to 15%.........

Then, Ray-Gun Ronnie.....used all the windfall money coming in to the Feds, to give out the LARGEST TAX CUT EVER, to the wealthy....

And, hilariously, even the so called "Reagan Democrats" of the time....cheered him doing it............

travelingthrulife

(4,699 posts)
3. Liars. Raise the cap. I am certain Elon and the rest of these greed-bags would
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 10:44 AM
11 hrs ago

never even feel it.

popsdenver

(1,781 posts)
24. Along with
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 12:28 PM
10 hrs ago

the money for Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps, etc etc etc.........

It is almost like Political Darwinism.........

popsdenver

(1,781 posts)
32. Trump is still pissed off
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 01:12 PM
9 hrs ago

that his stalling on COVID, only resulted in an additional 500,000 deaths here in the U.S. He was in hopes of more quasi genocide deaths.....
Of all the world's deaths, the U.S.'s Covid deaths were DOUBLE, per capita, of any other nation due to his intentional delays and screwing around. And that was diluted by Florida and Texas not bothering to tally deaths, or intentionally mis-stating the cause of death on death certificates.

chouchou

(2,888 posts)
5. Sometimes, I wonder if Republicans came from another planet?
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 10:48 AM
11 hrs ago

Perhaps maybe like: "Disgusted"

haele

(15,156 posts)
6. Save into your IRA and 401K...if your job barely pays renting from a slumlord?
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 10:53 AM
11 hrs ago

Ah yes - bootstrap philosophy. Totally devoid of understanding the income divide between the average worker and "professionals".

If you're a worker, you can put more in your 401k or IRA, and spend years raising your family in a tent by the river or using a cycle of family shelters, house-sharing, homeless clothing give-aways, and food pantries, or you can raise your family/present enough of a presentable appearance in public to keep a decent paying job by renting a "cheap apartment" and going grocery and thrift store shopping fairly regularly - and hope to die before you hit retirement age.

CousinIT

(12,330 posts)
35. The entire Trump crime syndicate are billionaires. They have no CLUE
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 02:13 PM
8 hrs ago

...what life is like for the working poor or middle class. Unfortunately, most of Congress are quite wealthy too - and they get cushy retirements and healthcare WE PAY FOR - while they vote to cut ours.

Dirtbags!

pecosbob

(8,332 posts)
8. Cut someone's social security by fifty percent and that someone will go to DC and shoot someone responsible in the head.
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 10:56 AM
11 hrs ago

Just a prediction...

Johonny

(25,682 posts)
12. Another bad economic policy
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 11:07 AM
11 hrs ago

This is money that will be pulled out of the economy. It's anti-stimulus.

gulliver

(13,782 posts)
13. Our waiting for the trust fund crisis is political malpractice
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 11:26 AM
11 hrs ago

There's no better way to undermine Social Security than to let trust fund insolvency continue to be a thing. How stupid we have to be to think, perhaps, that it can wait and not realize that waiting causes problems now.

You see it at the end of this OP. Someone telling you you should be sure to save money in your 401(k) and IRAs just to guard against the looming insolvency of the trust fund. That's a direct statement that Social Security isn't to be fully trusted. And, SMH, it just goes right over the heads of everyone.

Leaving the trust fund on a path to insolvency is like creating an ad against Social Security's reliability that runs every day until the crisis is averted. Are we really this stupid?

This is why I keep saying, "Core issues folks!"

dugog55

(368 posts)
17. The main reason Social Security is in trouble,
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 11:45 AM
10 hrs ago

is because wages have been stagnant since the mid 80s. Had everyone's wages kept up with inflation, SS would still be solvent. Reagan broke the unions and we lost a huge chunk of high wage earners, and the force behind keeping all wages competitive. All the cap raises in the last 30 years have not helped because fewer and fewer workers met the cap. Most were well below it. Right now, raising the cap is still a gap-step solution. Getting a nationwide workforce making more than minimum wage salaries would help immensely.

popsdenver

(1,781 posts)
27. HWBush was running things for 12 long years
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 12:37 PM
9 hrs ago

Reagan, like WBush and Trump, are merely pawns, or front men.

More was done during the entire 80's to obliterate the middle and lower classes, than in any period since........

As far as Reagan's administration, one of his crowning blows was:


Reagan, (actually HWBush) DOUBLING the deduction for SSI......"To save Social Security".................7.5% to 15%.........

Then, Ray-Gun Ronnie and the Republicans, along with most Dems,.....used all the windfall money coming in to the Feds, to give out the LARGEST TAX CUT EVER, almost exclusively to the wealthy....

And, hilariously, even the so called "Reagan Democrats" of the time....cheered him doing it............

Fiendish Thingy

(22,332 posts)
19. Unless we elect a progressive president in 2028, and the senate kills the filibuster, they will wait to fix
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 11:45 AM
10 hrs ago

Until the last possible moment, sometime in 2033-35, when the shortfall is predicted to kick in.

If the filibuster is still in place, then republicans will demand concessions like they did in the re-engineering of SS during the Reagan years.

They will insist on raising the full retirement age for millennials and Gen Z’s to 70 or even older, and reducing benefits further for those who take benefits before then.

Count on it.

Or, we could elect a progressive president and a senate willing to kill the filibuster, and lift the cap in 2029, and SS would be able to pay benefits for decades, if not forever.

Wonder Why

(6,598 posts)
22. You damn old people are getting all my money!
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 12:23 PM
10 hrs ago

Oops! I just looked at the calendar and realized what year it is! I'm 79 already.

You young 'uns are stealing all our money.

timms139

(501 posts)
26. Democrats should put fixing
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 12:32 PM
9 hrs ago

social Security in front of their messages as one of the first things to happen after the mid terms.The Ice problem and all the other things Trump ruined should be there but Social Security should be mentioned everytime they speak .

Miles Archer

(22,099 posts)
28. But this won't effect Elon's tax cut, right? OH DEAR JESUS PLEASE CONFIRM THAT ELON WILL BE OK.
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 12:40 PM
9 hrs ago

And Zuckerberg. And Bezos. And Thiel. For GOD'S SAKE please confirm they will still get their tax cuts.

markodochartaigh

(5,175 posts)
31. This is not accurate:
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 01:02 PM
9 hrs ago

"However, it’s still a great reminder for soon-to-be retirees to not rely completely on that monthly check. Save in your 401k and IRA with the anticipation Social Security may be cut to make sure you’ll have enough to cover any possible funding gap."

It is NOT a reminder for soon-to-be retirees. It is a reminder for people who have more than a decade left to retire, or the few who are soon to retire who are in the top 10% and can afford to throw wads of cash towards retirement. The great majority of soon-to-be retirees cannot afford to put enough towards retirement in their final decade of working to make up that difference.

snot

(11,580 posts)
36. Raise the cap to include the effect of all inflation in necessities
Wed Jan 28, 2026, 05:01 PM
5 hrs ago

since the current cap was first adopted; and then peg the cap to inflation in those necessities.

(Note: Inflation in necessities such as food, housing, and healthcare has been much higher than in the CPI as calculated by the government.)

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