There will never be a convenient time to address Social Security. Waiting only guarantees that the solutions available tomorrow will be harder than the ones available today. Social Security is an American promise, and Congress seems unmotivated or unwilling to do the hard work required to keep it.
The program’s finances are deteriorating, and according to the program’s trustees, if Congress fails to act, the program will be unable to pay full scheduled benefits within six short years, triggering an automatic 22% reduction in benefits or requiring massive tax hikes on working Americans with little to no warning. When that happens, the poverty rate among elderly Americans increases by 50%.
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Of course, every member of Congress says Social Security must be protected. They agree that retirees deserve the benefits they have earned. Yet year after year, Congress fails to engage seriously in the bipartisan work necessary to preserve the program, even as the deadline for action grows closer. It should concern every American that the people they’ve sent to Washington to address tough issues are unwilling to do so.
There is no shortage of ideas for strengthening Social Security. Some would adjust benefits, others would raise revenues, and still others would seek to grow the resources available to the program. Reasonable people can disagree about the best approach. What is indefensible is refusing to debate seriously any approach at all while the program moves closer to insolvency. Congress does not lack the proposals; it lacks the willingness to consider them.
Currently, a bill to establish a process for reviewing proposals is being considered, but even setting up a process to consider proposals has opposition! If Congress will not even allow a bipartisan discussion about preventing an automatic reduction in Social Security benefits, then what exactly is the plan? Hoping the problem disappears is not a plan. Waiting until the trust fund approaches insolvency is not a plan. Telling Americans that the issue is too politically difficult to discuss is certainly not a plan.
The suggestion that Congress should take more time is detached from reality, detached from the concerns of the American people, and detached from the job we were sent to Washington to do: tackle tough issues. Social Security does not have more time. Every year Congress delays, the benefit cuts or tax increases required to fill the gap grow significantly. And if these cuts and increases occur, the eventual solution is more painful for workers, retirees, and taxpayers alike. That cannot be wished away.
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Politicians are quick to accuse others of wanting to cut benefits. They are far less willing to participate in the difficult work required to prevent the automatic benefit reductions that current law will eventually impose if nothing changes. Running out the clock on Social Security might be politically acceptable to short-sighted special interests, lobbyists, and politicians, but it is profoundly unfair to the millions of Americans who depend on this program and expect their elected representatives to solve problems rather than avoid them.
History is not going to remember whether Congress voted on a bill merely to set up a process by which to consider a solution. It will remember whether Congress acted before retirees faced unnecessary reductions to the benefits on which they depend. When benefits are cut, no member of Congress will be able to say they didn’t see it coming. They will only have to explain why they chose not to act in a timely, thoughtful way.
Bill Cassidy is a Republican U.S. senator from Louisiana.
Dick Durbin is a Democratic U.S. senator from Illinois.