Social Security and Medicare trustees confirm: GOP policies have hurt both programs

[sandensea]

Source: Los Angeles Times

The publication of the annual trustees’ reports for Social Security and Medicare has become the occasion for some of the most consistently uninformed reporting on government programs of the year.

Within moments of their appearance, the Associated Press was tweeting, and later reported, that Medicare was projected to become “insolvent” in 2026, three years earlier than was projected last year.

Actually, no: The Medicare report projected that its hospital insurance trust fund, which applies to Medicare Part A, will be depleted in 2026. But since even then the program would be able to keep paying out more than 90% of scheduled benefits, it’s not anything like “insolvent.” As economist Dean Baker observes, at most it would be correct to say Medicare will face a “shortfall” in 2026, not insolvency.

The 2018 Trustees Report shows that the current program is fully affordable. Indeed, the United States can fully afford an expanded Social Security.

The more glaring oversight in Tuesday’s reporting on both programs is that the trustees made crystal clear that policies of congressional Republicans and the Trump White House have damaged the financial prospects of both programs. The GOP continually claims that it’s imperative to make both programs healthier to serve the 62 million people dependent on Social Security and 58.4 million covered by Medicare; the truth is that the Republicans are doing their best to cut the legs out from under both.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-social-security-20180605-story.html

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Social Security and Medicare: Facing a GOP checkmate?

[MurrayDelph]

1. Paul Ryan says

"Mission Accomplished."

[sandensea]

2. I bet he has Ayn Rand's illegal SSI check framed in his office.

[MurrayDelph]

3. Office, nothing

She's in his spank bank.

[sandensea]

4. For sure. Eddie Muster has SERIOUS mommy issues, no doubt about it.

Most republicans seem to, truth be told.

[RVN VET71]

6. Is it too soon to talk about Barbara Bush in this respect

[sandensea]

9. Sure - but I was referring to Paul Ryan (a.k.a. Eddie Munster)

Of course, Dubya and Jeb have (or had) serious mommy - and daddy - issues themselves. All that competing between themselves to show their parents who can be the worst president.

We know who won that particular rivalry, don't we.

[Judi Lynn]

10. I remember hearing that as governors of Texas and Florida, they competed in executions.

Both of them had quite a few dead people to claim for the state sanctioned murder contest.

[sandensea]

11. Beyond belief.

I had never heard that, Judi; but I certainly should have, given how many inmates those two executed between them - and how much they were said to relish doing so.

Ironic, given that Dubya himself deserves said penalty for 9/11 alone - plus the many thousands of Americans, Iraqis, Afghanis, and others who lost their lives in his subsequent wars.

Of course though, if it were up to me, I'd make sure clemency was granted. Put him - and the rest of his PNAC gang - to work in a rehabilitation center, learning to garden or some other positive, productive activity.

If wishes were horses, right?

[progree]

5. Link to summary report. And who are the trustees? (ughhhhh)

Link to the official summary report: https://www.ssa.gov/oact/TRSUM/index.html

Interesting - all the trustees are Caligula admin greedbangers

By the Trustees:

Steven T. Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury, and Managing Trustee of the Trust Funds.

Alex M. Azar II, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Trustee.

R. Alexander Acosta, Secretary of Labor, and Trustee.

Nancy A.Berryhill, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, and Trustee.

And the very last paragraph:

Who Are the Trustees? There are six Trustees, four of whom serve by virtue of their positions in the Federal Government: the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Commissioner of Social Security. The other two Trustees are public representatives appointed by the President, subject to confirmation by the Senate. The two Public Trustee positions have been vacant since July 2015.

[RVN VET71]

7. The media drops the ball consistently when reporting on SSA and Medicare

And the errors they publish as truth works hand in glove with the GOP strategy to undermine and destroy the programs.

[Judi Lynn]

8. You've added a new word to many vocabularies, no doubt! "Greedbangers". Great one. n/t