Latest news with #HouseBudgetCommittee
Miami Herald
3 hours ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Michael Hiltzik: Social Security is still in good shape but faces challenges
The annual reports of the Social Security and Medicare trustees provide yearly opportunities for misunderstandings by politicians, the media, and the general public about the health of these programs. This year is no exception. A case in point is the response by House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, to the Social Security and Medicare trustees' projections about the depletion of the programs' reserves: "Doing nothing to address the solvency of these programs will result in an immediate, automatic, and catastrophic cut to benefits for the nearly 70 million seniors who rely on them." The reports say nothing about an "immediate" cut to benefits. They talk about cuts that might happen in 2034 and 2033, when there still would be enough money coming in to pay 89% of scheduled Medicare benefits and 81% of scheduled Social Security benefits. House Ways and Means Committee chairman Jason Smith, R-Missouri, used the release of the reports to plump for the budget resolution that the House narrowly passed on orders from President Trump and that is currently being masticated by several Senate committees. The reports, Smith said, make clear "how much we need pro-growth tax and economic policies that unleash our nation's growth, increase wages, and create new jobs." The budget bill "would do just that," he said. Neither Arrington nor Smith mentioned the leading threats to the programs coming from the White House. In Social Security's case, that's Trump's immigration, taxation and tariff policies, which work directly against the program's solvency. For Medicare, the major threat is a rise in healthcare costs. But those have flattened out as a percentage of gross domestic product since 2010, when the enactment of the Affordable Care Act brought better access to medical care to millions of Americans. That trend is jeopardized by Republican healthcare proposals, which encompass throwing millions of Americans off Medicaid. Policy proposals by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. such as discouraging vaccinations can only drive healthcare costs higher. Let's take a closer look. (The Social Security trustees are Kennedy, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer and newly confirmed Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano, all of whom serve ex officio; two seats for public trustees are vacant. The Medicare trustees are the same, plus Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.) The trust funds are built up from payroll taxes paid by workers and employers, along with interest paid on the treasury bonds the programs hold. At the end of this year, the Medicare trust fund will hold about $245 billion, and the Social Security fund - actually two funds, consisting of reserves for the old-age and disability programs, but typically considered as one - more than $2.3 trillion. Trump has consistently promised that he won't touch Social Security and Medicare, but actions speak louder than words. "Trump's tariffs and mass deportation program will accelerate the depletion of the trust fund," Kathleen Romig of the Center on Budget and Policy priorities observed after the release of the trustees' reports this week. "The Trump administration's actions are weakening the country's economic outlook and Social Security's financial footing." Immigration benefits the program in several ways. Because "benefits paid out today are funded from payroll taxes collected from today's workers," notes CBPP's Kiran Rachamallu, "more workers paying into the system benefits the program's finances." In the U.S., he writes, "immigrants are more likely to be of working age and have higher rates of labor force participation, compared to U.S.-born individuals." The Social Security trustees' fiscal projections are based on average net immigration of about 1.2 million people per year. Higher immigration will help build the trust fund balances, and immigration lower than that will "increase the funding shortfall." All told, "the Trump administration's plans to drastically cut immigration and increase deportations would significantly worsen Social Security's financial outlook." A less uplifting aspect of immigration involves undocumented workers. To get jobs, they often submit false Social Security numbers to employers - so payroll taxes are deducted from their paychecks, but they're unlikely ever to be able to collect benefits. In 2022, Rachamallu noted, undocumented workers paid about $25.7 billion in Social Security taxes. Trump's tariffs, meanwhile, could affect Social Security by generating inflation and slowing the economy. Higher inflation means larger annual cost-of-living increases on benefits, raising the program's costs. If they provoke a recession, that would weigh further on Social Security's fiscal condition. Trump also has talked about eliminating taxes on Social Security benefits. But since at least half of those tax revenues flow directly into Social Security's reserves, they would need to be replaced somehow. Trump has never stated where the substitute revenues could be found. Major news organizations tend to focus on the depletion date of the trust funds without delving too deeply into their significance or, more important, their cause. It's not unusual for otherwise responsible news organizations to parrot right-wing tropes about Social Security running out of money or "going broke" in the near future, which is untrue but can unnecessarily unnerve workers and retirees. The question raised but largely unaddressed by the trustee reports is how to reduce the shortfall. The Republican answer generally involves cutting benefits, either by outright reductions or such options as raising the full retirement age, which is currently set between 66 and 67 for those born in 1952-1959 and 67 for everyone born in 1960 or later. As I've reported, raising the retirement age is a benefit cut by another name. It's also discriminatory, for average life expectancy is lower for some racial and ethnic groups than for others. For all Americans, average life expectancy at age 65 has risen since the 1930s by about 6.6 years, to about 84 and a half. The increase has been about the same for white workers. But for Black people in general, the gain is just over five years, to an average of a bit over 83, and for Black men it's less than four years and two months, to an average of about 81 and four months. Life expectancy is also related to income: Better-paid workers have longer average lifespans than lower-income workers. The other option, obviously, is to leave benefits alone but increase the programs' revenues. This is almost invariably dismissed by the GOP, but its power is compelling. The revenue shortfall experienced by Social Security is almost entirely the product of rising economic inequality in the U.S. At Social Security's inception, the payroll tax was set at a rate that would cover about 92% of taxable wage earnings. Today, rising income among the rich has reduced that ratio to only about 82%. That could mean hundreds of billions of dollars in lost revenues. The payroll tax is highly regressive. Those earning up to $176,100 this year pay the full tax of 12.4% on wage earnings (half deducted directly from their paychecks and half paid by their employers). Those earning more than that sum in wages pay nothing on the excess. To put it in perspective, the payroll tax bite on someone earning $500,000 in wages this year would pay not 12.4% in payroll tax (counting both halves of the levy), but about 4.4%. Eliminating the cap on wages, according to the Social Security actuaries, would eliminate half to three-quarters of the expected shortfall in revenues over the next 75 years, depending on whether benefits were raised for the highest earners. Taxing investment income - the source of at least half the income collected by the wealthiest Americans - at the 12.4% level rather than leaving it entirely untaxed for Social Security would reduce the shortfall by an additional 38%. Combining these two options would eliminate the entire shortfall. Social Security has already been hobbled by the Trump administration, Trump's promises notwithstanding. Elon Musk's DOGE vandals ran roughshod through the program, cutting staff and closing field offices, and generally instilling fears among workers and retirees that the program might not be around long enough to serve them. In moral terms, that's a crime. Those are the choices facing America: Cutting benefits is a dagger pointed directly at the neediest Americans. Social Security benefits account for 50% or more of the income nearly 42% of all beneficiaries, and 90% or more of the income of nearly 15% of beneficiaries. The wealthiest Americans, on the other hand, have been coasting along without paying their fair share of the program. Could the equities be any clearer than that? Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Los Angeles Times
12 hours ago
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Social Security is still in good shape but faces challenges — from Trump
The annual reports of the Social Security and Medicare trustees provide yearly opportunities for misunderstandings by politicians, the media, and the general public about the health of these programs. This year is no exception. A case in point is the response by House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Tex.) to the Social Security and Medicare trustees' projections about the depletion of the programs' reserves: 'Doing nothing to address the solvency of these programs will result in an immediate, automatic, and catastrophic cut to benefits for the nearly 70 million seniors who rely on them.' The reports say nothing about an 'immediate' cut to benefits. They talk about cuts that might happen in 2034 and 2033, when there still would be enough money coming in to pay 89% of scheduled Medicare benefits and 81% of scheduled Social Security benefits. House Ways and Means Committee chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) used the release of the reports to plump for the budget resolution that the House narrowly passed on orders from President Trump and that is currently being masticated by several Senate committees. The reports, Smith said, make clear 'how much we need pro-growth tax and economic policies that unleash our nation's growth, increase wages, and create new jobs.' The budget bill 'would do just that,' he said. Neither Arrington nor Smith mentioned the leading threats to the programs coming from the White House. In Social Security's case, that's Trump's immigration, taxation and tariff policies, which work directly against the program's solvency. For Medicare, the major threat is a rise in healthcare costs. But those have flattened out as a percentage of gross domestic product since 2010, when the enactment of the Affordable Care Act brought better access to medical care to millions of Americans. That trend is jeopardized by Republican healthcare proposals, which encompass throwing millions of Americans off Medicaid. Policy proposals by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. such as discouraging vaccinations can only drive healthcare costs higher. Let's take a closer look. (The Social Security trustees are Kennedy, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer and newly confirmed Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano, all of whom serve ex officio; two seats for public trustees are vacant. The Medicare trustees are the same, plus Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.) The trust funds are built up from payroll taxes paid by workers and employers, along with interest paid on the treasury bonds the programs hold. At the end of this year, the Medicare trust fund will hold about $245 billion, and the Social Security fund — actually two funds, consisting of reserves for the old-age and disability programs, but typically considered as one — more than $2.3 trillion. Trump has consistently promised that he won't touch Social Security and Medicare, but actions speak louder than words. 'Trump's tariffs and mass deportation program will accelerate the depletion of the trust fund,' Kathleen Romig of the Center on Budget and Policy priorities observed after the release of the trustees' reports this week. 'The Trump administration's actions are weakening the country's economic outlook and Social Security's financial footing.' Immigration benefits the program in several ways. Because 'benefits paid out today are funded from payroll taxes collected from today's workers,' notes CBPP's Kiran Rachamallu, 'more workers paying into the system benefits the program's finances.' In the U.S., he writes, 'immigrants are more likely to be of working age and have higher rates of labor force participation, compared to U.S.-born individuals.' The Social Security trustees' fiscal projections are based on average net immigration of about 1.2 million people per year. Higher immigration will help build the trust fund balances, and immigration lower than that will 'increase the funding shortfall.' All told, 'the Trump administration's plans to drastically cut immigration and increase deportations would significantly worsen Social Security's financial outlook.' A less uplifting aspect of immigration involves undocumented workers. To get jobs, they often submit false Social Security numbers to employers — so payroll taxes are deducted from their paychecks, but they're unlikely ever to be able to collect benefits. In 2022, Rachamallu noted, undocumented workers paid about $25.7 billion in Social Security taxes. Trump's tariffs, meanwhile, could affect Social Security by generating inflation and slowing the economy. Higher inflation means larger annual cost-of-living increases on benefits, raising the program's costs. If they provoke a recession, that would weigh further on Social Security's fiscal condition. Trump also has talked about eliminating taxes on Social Security benefits. But since at least half of those tax revenues flow directly into Social Security's reserves, they would need to be replaced somehow. Trump has never stated where the substitute revenues could be found. Major news organizations tend to focus on the depletion date of the trust funds without delving too deeply into their significance or, more important, their cause. It's not unusual for otherwise responsible news organizations to parrot right-wing tropes about Social Security running out of money or 'going broke' in the near future, which is untrue but can unnecessarily unnerve workers and retirees. The question raised but largely unaddressed by the trustee reports is how to reduce the shortfall. The Republican answer generally involves cutting benefits, either by outright reductions or such options as raising the full retirement age, which is currently set between 66 and 67 for those born in 1952-1959 and 67 for everyone born in 1960 or later. As I've reported, raising the retirement age is a benefit cut by another name. It's also discriminatory, for average life expectancy is lower for some racial and ethnic groups than for others. For all Americans, average life expectancy at age 65 has risen since the 1930s by about 6.6 years, to about 84 and a half. The increase has been about the same for white workers. But for Black people in general, the gain is just over five years, to an average of a bit over 83, and for Black men it's less than four years and two months, to an average of about 81 and four months. Life expectancy is also related to income: Better-paid workers have longer average lifespans than lower-income workers. The other option, obviously, is to leave benefits alone but increase the programs' revenues. This is almost invariably dismissed by the GOP, but its power is compelling. The revenue shortfall experienced by Social Security is almost entirely the product of rising economic inequality in the U.S. At Social Security's inception, the payroll tax was set at a rate that would cover about 92% of taxable wage earnings. Today, rising income among the rich has reduced that ratio to only about 82%. That could mean hundreds of billions of dollars in lost revenues. The payroll tax is highly regressive. Those earning up to $176,100 this year pay the full tax of 12.4% on wage earnings (half deducted directly from their paychecks and half paid by their employers). Those earning more than that sum in wages pay nothing on the excess. To put it in perspective, the payroll tax bite on someone earning $500,000 in wages this year would pay not 12.4% in payroll tax (counting both halves of the levy), but about 4.4%. Eliminating the cap on wages, according to the Social Security actuaries, would eliminate half to three-quarters of the expected shortfall in revenues over the next 75 years, depending on whether benefits were raised for the highest earners. Taxing investment income — the source of at least half the income collected by the wealthiest Americans — at the 12.4% level rather than leaving it entirely untaxed for Social Security would reduce the shortfall by an additional 38%. Combining these two options would eliminate the entire shortfall. Social Security has already been hobbled by the Trump administration, Trump's promises notwithstanding. Elon Musk's DOGE vandals ran roughshod through the program, cutting staff and closing field offices, and generally instilling fears among workers and retirees that the program might not be around long enough to serve them. In moral terms, that's a crime. Those are the choices facing America: Cutting benefits is a dagger pointed directly at the neediest Americans. Social Security benefits account for 50% or more of the income nearly 42% of all beneficiaries, and 90% or more of the income of nearly 15% of beneficiaries. The wealthiest Americans, on the other hand, have been coasting along without paying their fair share of the program. Could the equities be any clearer than that?
Newsweek
2 days ago
- Politics
- Newsweek
Florida's GOP Attorney General Urges Deportation of Democratic Lawmaker
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has called to "denaturalize and deport" Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar after she made critical remarks about President Donald Trump and the trajectory of the United States. Why It Matters Uthmeier's remarks intertwine with the politically divisive issue of immigration and the Trump administration's continued efforts to mass deport immigrants and prevent entry for some others. Critics of the administration have protested excessive raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and clamps on free speech regarding topics like Gaza. What To Know Uthmeier made his post on Tuesday on X in response to remarks Omar made on the news program Democracy Now about the broader U.S. military presence nationwide and how she never "witnessed anything like that" while growing up in a dictatorship in Somalia. "To have democracy, a beacon of hope for the world, to now be turned into one of the worst countries where the military are in our streets without any regard for people's constitutional rights; while our president is spending millions of dollars propping himself up like a failed dictator with a military parade—it is really shocking and should be a wake-up call for all Americans to say this is not the country we were born in, the country we believe in, the country our Founding Fathers imagined, and this is not the country supported by our Constitution, our ideals, our values," Omar said. A spokesperson for Omar declined to comment to Newsweek on Uthmeier's remarks. Newsweek reached out to Uthmeier's office via email for comment. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) speaks during a mark up meeting with the House Budget Committee on Capitol Hill on May 16, 2025 in Washington, DC. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) speaks during a mark up meeting with the House Budget Committee on Capitol Hill on May 16, 2025 in Washington, a Democrat first elected in 2019, is a naturalized citizen and has lived in the U.S. since the 1990s. She became the first African refugee and Muslim woman to be elected to Congress. Uthmeier was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis in February after previous attorney general Ashley Moody became a U.S. Senator. He previously served as DeSantis' presidential campaign manager. DeSantis has made similar remarks about Omar in the past. In January 2024, while campaigning to represent the GOP as a presidential candidate, he called for Omar's deportation following her viral remarks to Somali American constituents regarding a deal struck at the time by Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland with landlocked Ethiopia, providing access to the sea. Omar purportedly said that she was "Somalian first, Muslim second" and "here to protect the interests of Somalia from inside the U.S. system." She later refuted the retelling of her statements, calling the clip viewed millions of times "not only slanted but completely off," adding that she "wouldn't expect more from these propagandists." Other Republicans, including Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, have also called for Omar's deportation. Earlier this year, Texas State Representative Brandon Gill circulated a petition to deport Omar. Legal and immigration experts told Newsweek that calling for the deportation of a naturalized citizen is shortsighted and not legally realistic. What People Are Saying Stephen Schnably, a law professor at the University of Miami, previously told Newsweek: "It's just not in the cards, deportation as punishment for a U.S. citizen. That is something that just cannot be done." Immigration lawyer Rosanna Berardi previously told Newsweek: "The Immigration and Nationality Act allows for deportation/removal of individuals due to criminal activities, violations of status or violation of immigration law. Deportation for expressing political views, particularly those covered by the First Amendment, is not legally supported. Political speech does not constitute a valid basis for deportation." What To Know Also on Tuesday, a federal judge in Florida found Uthmeier to be in civil contempt over a ruling that put on hold a new state law making it a misdemeanor for people living in the U.S. illegally to enter the state, according to the Associated Press. "If being held in contempt is what it costs to defend the rule of law and stand firmly behind President Trump's agenda on illegal immigration, so be it," Uthmeier said afterwards on social media.
New York Post
3 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Ilhan Omar claims US turning into one of ‘worst countries' in the world
Far-left Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said last week that the United States is becoming one of the 'worst countries' in the world. 'I mean, I grew up in a dictatorship and I don't even remember ever witnessing anything like that to have a democracy, a beacon of hope for the world to now be turned into one of the, you know, one of the worst countries, where the military are in our streets without any regard for people's constitutional rights,' Omar said in an interview published Friday on Democracy Now!'s YouTube page. Omar, who was born in Somalia, referenced President Donald Trump's military parade on Saturday that commemorated the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. The parade also fell on Flag Day and Trump's 79th birthday and was meant to honor America. Omar, whose interview took place before the parade, was unimpressed. 'Our president is spending millions of dollars [propping] himself up like a failed dictator with a military parade,' Omar said of the then-upcoming parade. 3 Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) speaks during a mark up meeting with the House Budget Committee on Capitol Hill on May 16, 2025 in Washington, DC. Getty Images 'It is really shocking, and it should be a wake-up call for all Americans to say this is not the country we were born in,' she added. 'This is not the country we believe in, this is not the country our Founding Fathers imagined, and this is not the country that is supported by our Constitution, our ideals, our values, and we should all collectively be out in the streets rejecting what is taking place this week.' The Squad member also said that Trump is 'destroying our country.' 'I think the person who is in the process of destroying our country should look in the mirror and that's Trump,' Omar said. 'And notice that he is the one that has hatred for the values that we have here in America and everything that we have built. 3 President Donald Trump attends a celebration of the Army's 250th birthday on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., U.S, June, 14, 2025. via REUTERS 3 US military vehicles drive over the Memorial Bridge during a military parade commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States Army in Washington, DC, USA, 14 June 2025. ALLISON DINNER/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock 'The reality is protest, dissent, is constitutionally protected that is everybody's First Amendment right in this country.' Some have called out the Minnesota Democrat. Fox News contributor Guy Benson shared a clip from the interview on X in a Tuesday post and said, 'The hyperbole here is appalling, made worse by her astounding ingratitude.' '[I]f people are seriously offended by a parade for the first time in decades, then go outside and touch some grass,' OutKick's David Hookstead wrote. 'We have the greatest military on the planet, and we shouldn't ever apologize for it. After all, our men died to try to protect innocent lives in Somalia. I guess that sacrifice just doesn't matter to Congresswoman Omar.'
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
3 dozen House Republicans urge Senate GOP against ‘budget gimmicks,' deficit increases
More than three dozen House Republicans are warning Senate GOP leaders against approving additional deficit increases or using 'budget gimmicks' to count additional savings in the 'one big, beautiful bill' of President Trump's tax cut and spending priorities. 'As the Senate considers changes, we remain unequivocal in our position that any additional tax cuts must be matched dollar-for-dollar by real, enforceable spending reductions,' the 37 members, led by Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.), said in a Tuesday letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), adding that the principle is the 'cornerstone' of the budget resolution framework passed by the House and is the 'minimum standard for our support.' The letter further asserted that the members would consider 'genuine savings only' as established by that House resolution. 'Offsets must come from permanent reforms that make the budget more sustainable, not timing shifts or other budget gimmicks,' the letter said. Among the signatories are House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), House Republican Conference Vice Chair Blake Moore (Utah), and many members of the House Freedom Caucus, including its chair, Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.). The Senate is currently considering and expected to make changes to the House-passed megabill that includes extension of tax cuts that Trump signed into law in 2017; boosts to border, deportation, and defense funding; and new restrictions on Medicaid and food assistance programs that are projected to result in millions of individuals losing their health insurance. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the proposed tax cuts in the plan would decrease revenues by more than $3.6 trillion over a decade, while measures to cut federal spending — including reforms to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — would reduce outlays by $1.2 trillion over the same period, resulting in a net deficit increase of $2.4 trillion. Several matters under consideration in the Senate would add to the deficit impact of the bill. Some GOP senators are unhappy with provisions to terminate clean energy tax breaks, while others are objecting to the around $800 billion in cuts to Medicaid through provisions like increased work requirements and $267 billion in cuts to food assistance through provisions like making states share the cost of the program for the first time. 'A reconciliation bill that relaxes fiscal discipline reflected in the House-passed bill would invite higher borrowing costs and undermine the economic growth that Americans need to maximize opportunity,' the 37 House GOP members said in the letter. 'We urge Senate leadership to keep the reconciliation measure compatible with the House framework while seizing every opportunity to deepen savings.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
