The Social Security program is approaching a crisis level because the Baby Boom generation is huge and retiring now. Which would not be a problem except the next generations are smaller. Many people opted out of having large families. Americans are not reproducing at a rate to replace themselves.
”In the US, the birth rate has been falling since the Great Recession, dropping almost 23 percent between 2007 and 2022. Today, the average American woman has about 1.6 children, down from three in 1950, and significantly below the “replacement rate” of 2.1 children needed to sustain a stable population.” Vox
This is a demographic disaster. Too many people withdrawing funds - not enough younger people putting money in.
This video explains the financial strain well. But it fails to provide solutions - offering only vague comments: “something needs to be done”. Good info, but feel free to keep scrolling.
One obvious way to bolster the Social Security fund is to remove the income cap. Why should anyone pay a smaller percentage of their income in Social Security taxes?
”For 2023, the wage base was $160,200. So, if you earned more than $160,200 this last year, you won't have to pay the Social Security payroll tax on the amount that exceeds that limit…94% of U.S. workers are paid less than $160,200 per year, so they pay the 6.2% Social Security payroll tax on all of the paychecks they receive in 2023. For millionaires, only about 1% or less of their total earnings go toward Social Security…”
Another obvious solution to finding more tax revenue is to import more younger workers. Guess where we can find them! They are knocking at our door - at the border. We need MORE legal immigrants. More employees = more tax revenue.
Every American is a product of immigration. (Even indigenous American ancestors arrived here from somewhere else.) Why is there such opposition to continuing America's long held tradition of providing opportunity for those who seek to live here? Why not invest in securing the border in a way that we can efficiently process the folks who are NOT a danger and who want to work hard?
Answer: Fear and Lies. And good ole bigotry. Hating as a way to make America great again.
Fear and Lie number one is that immigrants will take away our jobs. The MAGA media propels that falsehood daily. But read this from the US Chamber of Commerce - hardly a “lefty” organization:
“We hear every day from our member companies—of every size and industry, across nearly every state—they’re facing unprecedented challenges trying to find enough workers to fill open jobs. Right now, the latest data shows that we have 9.5 million job openings in the U.S., but only 6.5 million unemployed workers.
We have a lot of jobs, but not enough workers to fill them. If every unemployed person in the country found a job, we would still have nearly 3 million open jobs.”
Fear and Lie number two is that the people seeking to cross our border are criminals and they will escalate crime in the United States. Another Fox News talking point to stir fear in our hearts. It is a lie. Immigrants commit less crime than native born Americans. A lot less crime. But sensational stories like the one in the PBS Newshour below will reinforce the lie - unless we listen to and read the research. Start the video at about 17:00 to get the FULL story you won’t hear from the liars.
Take this quiz to assess how immigrants compare to native born Americans.
Here are some facts from the Cato Institute - another organization with solid right wing credentials (Chairman and CEO is Charles Koch):
”In 2018, the illegal immigrant criminal conviction rate was 782 per 100,000 illegal immigrants, 535 per 100,000 legal immigrants, and 1,422 per 100,000 native‐born Americans. The illegal immigrant criminal conviction rate was 45 percent below that of native‐born Americans in Texas.”
”There is more and more evidence that immigrants, regardless of legal status, are less likely to commit crimes than native‐born Americans. However, a substantial number of Americans still think that immigration increases crime. As more evidence builds over time, we can only hope that Americans respond by updating their opinions so that they fit the facts.”
And…guess what was in the bipartisan Immigration Bill passed by the Senate that was demanded by the House of Representatives? That bill that Trump told House “Leader” Mike Johnson to kill? Remind me, please. Which party supports “law and order” and funding for law enforcement? Apparently it isn’t the MAGA GOP.
”The package also includes bipartisan sweeteners, including the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, which would target, sanction and block the financial assets of people involved in the fentanyl supply chain, from chemical suppliers in China to drug traffickers from Mexico. The anti-fentanyl bill is authored by the leaders of the Senate Banking Committee, Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Tim Scott, R-S.C., and it has support from 67 senators.”
- NBC News recap of bi-partisan Senate approved bill
We need more workers. We need more taxes. We need to propel our economy. We can do that and provide humanitarian assistance to people who are desperately escaping deadly circumstances at home. Nobody travels that far and through such dangerous circumstances for fun. Cartel gang violence and the difficulty of growing food due to the Climate Catastrophe are forcing them north. They need help and we need the help.
Here are some interesting excerpts from a recent Washington Post article.
”The CBO has now factored in a previously unexpected surge in immigration that began in 2022, which the agency assumes will persist for several years. These immigrants are more likely to work than their native-born counterparts, largely because immigrants skew younger. This infusion of working-age immigrants will more than offset the expected retirement of the aging, native-born population.”
”As CBO Director Phill Swagel wrote in a note accompanying the forecasts: As a result of these immigration-driven revisions to the size of the labor force, “we estimate that, from 2023 to 2034, GDP will be greater by about $7 trillion and revenues will be greater by about $1 trillion than they would have been otherwise.”
Read Catherine Rampell’s complete article “The surge in immigration is a $7 trillion gift to the economy.”
The support for a well managed and well funded immigration system comes from all ends of the political spectrum. From people who see the facts, the truth and shun the fear mongering. I am NOT advocating for an “open border”. I am recommending we spend some money to MANAGE the border properly. The bipartisan bill rejected by MAGA Mike Johnson would hire more border agents, provide better facilities, address the influx of fentanyl, and legally process people faster and more efficiently. It would get them into the workforce faster.
“One thing really struck me, looking at our team,” recalled Manfred Lichtmann, a staff anesthesiologist at the hospital. “Each of us had emigrated to the United States.”
We need legal immigrants to do more than build houses, mow lawns and harvest our food. We need them in every field of endeavor.
“Thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity, we’re a nation forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas, and always on the cutting edge, always leading the world to the next frontier. This quality is vital to our future as a nation. If we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost.”
- Ronald Reagan
Social Security and Medicare can be made solvent by taxing the rich fairly and fixing the border properly - admitting more needed people safely. This would simultaneously boost US productivity by filling job openings. It would add trillions to the economy and to our tax coffers. It would make the “Border Crisis” an opportunity. Fix the border. Fix the nation.
https://www.vox.com/23971366/declining-birth-rate-fertility-babies-children
https://wapo.st/3SBsznN
Millionaires pay very little in Social Security taxes
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2874220/#:~:text=The%20First%20Amerindian%20Natives%20are,between%20American%20and%20Asian%20populations.
https://www.uschamber.com/workforce/understanding-americas-labor-shortage
https://www.cato.org/blog/new-research-illegal-immigration-crime-0
Washington Post quiz on immigrants
Brilliantly done Bill. I've been singing the "welcome the immigrants and remove the salary cap" song for quite a while, but you've made it into a symphony. The presentation is impressive, and your arguments are spot on. If I can figure out how, I'm going to send this to my CongressMAGA and Senators right after I share and restack it.
Bill,
Thank you! This is an enormous country full of opportunity if one is willing to work.
Few of our ancestors arrived here as persons of wealth. Many of us have stories of the great work
ethic, disciple and sacrifice of our past family members and the many challenges they faced and overcame.
There are many jobs that only people who have walked miles, have been robbed or unfortunately raped to arrive to this country. They BELIEVE...THEY HOLD HOPE...not for a hand out...but HOPE to find a job, no matter how difficult and a future for themselves and their children.
This was the hope of our family members in the past. We should be building safe pathways, NOT WALLS!!!
As Americans, we should be expanding love, not hate!!!