The campaign for president is well under way, and some of Donald Trump‘s ideas worry experts. Trump is running as a Republican and was president before. As he rushed to say he would protect Social Security from cuts, he made some campaign promises that could hurt the program even more quickly, which is a worry.
One plan that has caused the most concern is one that would stop taxing Social Security benefits. This may seem like a good idea at first, but it would cause the Trust funds that support the payments to run out faster than expected, leaving seniors with smaller benefits.
A nonpartisan government watchdog called the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget found that the program would end in 2031 instead of 2035 as was originally thought. This would mean that payments would have to be cut by 30% as planned.
In an interview, the committee’s senior policy director, Marc Goldwein, said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a plan that would have this big of a negative effect on solvency in a general election campaign.” Goldwein was shocked.
Publicly stating that the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has been “consistently wrong throughout the years,” the Trump campaign seems to be stepping up their promise.
Karoline Leavitt, the campaign’s national press secretary, said, “By unleashing American energy, slashing job-killing regulations and adopting pro-growth America First tax and trade policies, President Trump will quickly rebuild the greatest economy in history and put Social Security on a stronger footing for generations to come, all the while eliminating taxes on Social Security for America’s deserving seniors.”
Cutting taxes on Social Security benefits
Those who looked at the situation can see how much this promise will cost. A report from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says that the tax cuts the former president has planned to make would take about $2.3 trillion away from Social Security over ten years.
There is no question that getting rid of federal income taxes on Social Security benefits would be the worst idea. Over 10 years, this would cost the program $950 billion in money.
About half of Social Security recipients have to pay taxes on their payments, but only if their total income is more than $25,000 per person or $32,000 for married couples.
The new rule would help people who make between $63,000 and $206,000 a year, not seniors who are having a hard time. Tax rates wouldn’t change much for people making less than $63,000, but they would be hit the hardest when the Trust funds ran out of money.
Other campaign promises. Eliminating taxes on tips and overtime
Trump and Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for vice president, have both promised to get rid of federal income taxes on tips. However, Harris has ended there because other taxes, like payroll taxes, go toward Social Security, but Trump has gone even further.
He said he would get rid of both the income tax and the payroll tax on tips. This would cost Social Security another $900 billion in money.
It’s funny that most tipped workers don’t make enough to pay income tax, but they do pay payroll tax. This means that less than 3% of families would get a tax cut, and those who need it the most would only get a $200 cut, which isn’t much for them but a disaster for the program.
People who would gain from the cut would get even smaller Social Security payments when they retire, because benefits are based on how much money people report to the program.
The head of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, Max Richtman, summed up the new policies by saying that Trump is “overall reckless with Social Security” and criticizing the measures. It’s funny how Trump acts like he’s a friend of the working class but then he comes up with plans that could hurt the benefits that workers have earned and count on in retirement.
It is not responsible for a presidential candidate to support ideas that would make the Social Security trust fund go bankrupt faster, which would mean even bigger cuts to benefits if that happens.
Also See:- Big changes are coming to Medicare starting today – This is how it will affect Seniors in the US