Midterm elections put Social Security funding gaps on the ballot

What BBN said about it

1. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorSocial Security's main trust fund is on course to run dry in late twenty thirty-two, a year earlier than last year's projection.

2. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorAnd what I love is that candidates in Maine are already presenting solutions. Susan Collins wants a bipartisan commission.

3. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorTroy Jackson wants to eliminate the payroll tax cap. That's a full menu, Hank.

4. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorA commission. For a date that's already on the calendar. You don't form a committee to find out what Thursday is.

5. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe date moved up after the tax law passed this year. The chief actuary said it would have material effects.

6. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorMaterial effects is a very early-stage way of describing a dynamic funding conversation, and I think we should let the process breathe.

7. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorLet me finish. The cap is a hundred and eighty-four thousand, five hundred dollars. Above that, no payroll tax at all.

8. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorSo the system leans hardest on people who earn least. I'd call that a design feature.

9. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorSorry, Vera, which part is dynamic?

10. 

    Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorThe part where nearly four hundred thousand Mainers collecting benefits are being invited into a national dialogue. They're stakeholders, Hank.

11. 

    Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorIf nothing happens, benefits fall to seventy-eight cents on the dollar. A cut of more than twenty percent. And Vera calls them stakeholders.

12. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorRating: Fully Bonkers. The date is on the calendar, and the note is on the record.

13. 

    Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorSeventy-eight cents on the dollar. And they formed a commission to find out what that costs.