Social Security Payouts Exceed Revenue

As a result of jobs disappearing and more people applying for social security earlier, the amount of money being paid out has exceeded the revenues from taxes for the program. Because there are less jobs, there are less taxes being paid because less taxable money is being earned. At the same time, more people are applying for social security, causing the situation that is happening now. A NY Times article says:

The long-term costs of Social Security present further problems for politicians, who are already struggling over how to reduce the nation’s debt. The national predicament echoes that of many European governments, which are facing market pressure to re-examine their commitments to generous pensions over extended retirements.

The United States’ soaring debt — propelled by tax cuts, wars and large expenditures to help banks and the housing market — has become a hot issue as Democrats gauge their vulnerability in the coming elections. President Obama has appointed a bipartisan commission to examine the debt problem, including Social Security, and make recommendations on how to trim the nation’s debt by Dec. 1, a few weeks after the midterm Congressional elections.

It is obvious that we are going to have to make changes to the social security program. We cannot continue to pay out more than we take in for the program because it will just add on to our a;ready growing national debt. Finding a working solution to this problem that everyone will be happy with will most likely not be an easy task, but something will have to be done to tackle this issue in the near future.