Maya MacGuineas: Doing nothing on Social Security and Medicare will be a painful and costly decision

Maya MacGuineas is president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and head of the Campaign to Fix the Debt. She recently wrote an opinion piece for The Dallas Morning News, an excerpt of which is below.

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump share little in their political philosophies and governing styles. But both have demonstrated they do share one trait: a penchant for demagoguing about Social Security and Medicare for political gain.

Quite simply, the government’s two largest programs are underfunded and will not have the money to pay all the benefits they have promised. Therefore, changes will need to be made.

But rather than leveling with the American people about their cash-strapped condition, both Biden and Trump opted to make promises about not making change to benefits, and instead attack those who have put forth suggestions. Recently a White House spokesperson referred to a proposal for a commission to save the Social Security and Medicare programs as “Death Panels” – an outlandish claim meant to terrify seniors rather than facilitate needed discussion.

Read the entire piece here.

Published works by members or staff of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget do not necessarily reflect the views of all members or staff of the Committee.