Social Security affects every Missourian. Voters and politicians keep ignoring it | Opinion

Social Security is important to you and your neighbors whether you realize it or not. According to the AARP, formerly the American Association of Retired Persons, more than 1 in every 5 residents of Missouri collects benefits, injecting more than $225 billion into the state’s economy over the course of 2022 alone.

It is important to realize that Social Security does not operate in a vacuum. It doesn’t matter whether you are young or old, Republican or Democrat, collecting as a beneficiary or serving older customers as a business owner: Chances are the program likely touches your life in some way.

Right now, voters from around the state need to pay attention, because the program on which most Americans depend is once again drifting from the view of our elected officials.

As it is, the program’s finances aren’t great. Based on the latest data, the program has roughly $22.4 trillion in promises to current voters, which no one expects it to keep. People who turn 80 today expect on average to outlive the program’s ability to pay their scheduled benefits.

With those prospects, Social Security should be at the top of every candidate’s list of priorities, and yet it seems to be on the list of none.

At this point, Democrats as a party are more than $10 trillion apart on what benefits the program should provide. In other words, the party isn’t talking about a solution. It’s battling over what problem its leaders hope to solve.

Republicans, on the other hand, have not put forward legislation on Social Security reform since 2016. Instead of offering ideas, the GOP candidates proffer rhythmic platitudes : A promise made is a promise kept. Sounds great — until you realize that the program has promised benefit reductions for current retirees in the mid-2030 for nearly 30 years.

Maybe this is the promise that the GOP intends to keep, because every idea emerging from party leadership leads us to that uncertain fate. Even the local Republican block captain should understand that benefit cuts for those currently in their 20s will not materially alter the prospects of benefit reductions coming to those now in their 80s.

The coming presidential election will pit President Joe Biden against Donald Trump. While you may feel strongly about one over the other, there isn’t a material difference between the two on the issue of Social Security. Both talk sparingly about the program while on the campaign trail, and accomplished little on Social Security while in office.

Back in 2016, Trump campaigned on the idea that a growing economy would solve the imbalances in the program threatening older Americans. He promised not to touch Social Security, and kept his word to terrifying effect. The program’s finances unraveled at an unprecedented pace over the course of his term in office. During that time, the gap between what the program has promised and what it expects to pay out grew more than twice as fast as the nation’s economy.

In 2020, Biden promised to put the program on a path to long-term stability. Since he arrived in the Oval Office, he hasn’t produced any visible progress toward that goal. In fact, he has not even made a visible effort to unify his party behind a single vision for Social Security.

The coming presidential campaign augurs more of the same. Both will promise to protect Social Security. Biden will protect it from Republicans who might put benefits on the chopping block. Trump will protect it from Democrats who want to increase your taxes so that they can spend your money on something else.

No one is protecting the program from the do-nothing politicians who have enabled the system’s financial decline.

That is the job of voters, most of whom remain passively on the sidelines of politics, as though a representative form of government is a spectator sport. Too frequently, I hear people say that the government took their money without asking. The hard truth is that every voter has been asked every two years about his or her priorities, and for 40 years, Social Security has not been the most pressing concern.

If your benefits fall or your taxes increase, there is only one person to blame. It is the guy in the mirror.

Brenton Smith is a policy adviser on Social Security to The Heartland Institute, an Illinois-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that advocates for free markets.