The Louisiana Republican says lawmakers can no longer avoid the mounting concerns surrounding social security as the agency reports the program’s trust fund will be depleted by 2032.
"The reason we're in trouble is because over 74% of federal spending is on autopilot — mandatory spending, that is your entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid and things like Social Security — they have to be adjusted and fixed," (R.LA) House Speaker Mike Johnson said during a recent interview on the “Moon Griffon Show.”
Economist, Vance Ginn, says it needs to be addressed now. “We don’t want to wait until the crisis hits when millions of people could be without income and then have much bigger problems associated with that.” He said.
Ginn says neither party wants to address it, because in 2005, it didn’t fare well for President George W. Bush when he tried to privatize the program. Ginn says the last lawmaker that brought the issue to the forefront, he said was Former House Speaker Republican Paul Ryan, during Trump’s first term. “It’s considered political suicide. I’m hoping we can do something about it. There needs to be some grown-ups at the table to think about how we go about reforming social security- improving it making it solvent- things that are going to be necessary for the future. “Ginn said.
Among the options Ginn says he hopes there will be more talk of privatizing accounts as he says Americans could have more control over their own accounts and their future instead of the government. “One option could be a transfer to where you can see how much in benefits you would get under social security, and that gains interest over time. There’s an account called a universal savings account- like a Health Savings Account (an HSA) you can put money that can also be for retirement versus politicians telling us where our money should go each and every month.” He said. Ginn added raising the retirement age and reducing the amount of benefit distributed based on income levels are alternative options to help make the program solvent.