At their convention in July, delegates of the Republican Party approved a platform focused on reducing the national debt. Their document begins by stating: "We reject the old maxim that Social Security is the 'Third Rail' of American politics, deadly for anyone who would change it. The Democratic Party still treats it that way, even though everyone knows that its current course will lead to a financial and social disaster." The focal point of their plan is cutting government waste, encouraging economic growth, and balancing the budget even if that means making significant changes to programs like Social Security..In our Sept. 26 Update, we told you about the new Drug Discount Card that President Trump had just announced would be available to some seniors. At that time, there were few details about the program because, as one White House official put it, the idea of a drug discount card was a "last-minute thing that is still being worked out.".House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement that the House would push for the deal to be included in a year-end legislative package. However, Senate leaders haven't signed off on the deal, according to a committee aide..Even small tweaks in inflation can save the government hundreds of billions over time. Using the chained CPI would reduce the measured rate of inflation, and the amount of money you would receive in your COLA every year. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that moving to the chained CPI would cut government spending on Social Security by 2 billion over the first 10 years alone..Let's be clear about this. No one is saying that the effort to cut Medicare and/or Social Security will come this year or next..Wall Street economists are in the midst of a growing debate over whether we are in for "the return of inflation.".The Super Committee failed to come to agreement last week, resulting in a mandated sequestration of cuts in defense and domestic spending. The sequester was intended to urge lawmakers on the committee to come to an agreement, however the stalemate will result in automatic 1.2 trillion dollar budget cuts over the next decade..Doesn't Social Security pay money to many people who are not really paying into it? - L.V..Is this you? Watch a video of age - activated attention deficit disorder.
