The State of the Union Deserves Less Theater, More Solutions

President Biden will give his State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress tomorrow night. This annual address offers the President the opportunity to lay out his domestic and foreign policy agendas and share with the American people his key economic and fiscal priorities for the coming year.

The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: 

When President Biden delivers his State of the Union address tomorrow, we look forward to hearing how he will tackle this nation’s many challenges and improve our fiscal outlook in the years to come.

Of course, the President will have an agenda, but he needs to pay for it. And more importantly, he needs a plan to address mounting debt, surging interest costs, and the looming insolvency of Social Security and Medicare.

The absolute last thing we need is a repeat of last year, where both parties joined together to applaud keeping Social Security and Medicare “off the books.” This may have made for good political theater, but it did a huge disservice to the millions of Americans who rely on these programs.  

Without action, Social Security faces insolvency in only 9 years, at which point benefits are scheduled to fall by 23 percent. That means a $17,400 cut to Social Security benefits for a typical couple retiring in 2033, as a result of Washington’s inaction.

Instead of pledging not to touch Social Security and Medicare, the President should call for both parties to come together to fix them.  

As President Biden takes the podium tomorrow night, he should present a sobering assessment of the reality of our fiscal situation. The challenges we face are too serious for more political theater. 

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For more information, please contact Matt Klucher, Assistant Director for Media Relations, at klucher@crfb.org.