Social Security is the single largest program in the federal budget with outlays of one trillion dollars – twenty-five percent of the budget. Social Security is a vital component of the American safety net. Without Social Security many retired and disabled workers – as well as survivors and dependents — would be without an adequate income, and in many cases without any income.
Recently, Social Security spending has attracted headlines because Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested that obligations now exceed current revenue; that unfunded liabilities were $14 trillion and reductions were necessary to maintain the integrity of the program, and because Social Security was contributing to the overall federal deficit and its mounting debt.
Commentary by Richard Keevey, NorthJersey.com, November 23, 2019