Trumpian Logic Applied to Your Monthly Social Security Check

This news comes by way of an opinion piece on CNN. As you know, the President recently ordered the Treasury Department to stop collecting Social Security's dedicated payroll contributions for the next four months based on an IRS Code which permits deferrals of taxes when a disaster is declared. Should he be re-elected and continue with deferring those taxes, all Social Security benefits will come to a screeching halt.

According to estimates by the independent chief actuary of the Social Security Administration, if all Social Security contributions from payroll tax stopped on Jan. 1, 2021, the nearly 10 million people today receiving Social Security Disability Insurance benefits, which averages about $1,125 every month, would see them stop abruptly in the middle of 2021.

The 55 million receiving Social Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance benefits, which average around $1,440 a month, would see them disappear two years later. Social Security would be without money to pay benefits by 2023 unless Congress enacted veto-proof legislation, which is highly unlikely at this time.

Prior to running for president, Trump endorsed privatizing Social Security and raising its full retirement age to 70. Some pundits are giving the President the benefit of the doubt, arguing that Congress would simply make up for the missing payroll contributions with general revenue. However, that would be highly unlikely because it would cost more than $1 trillion a year and double the fiscal year 2019 deficit.

Learn More:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/01/opinions/social-security-payroll-trump-altman/index.html
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