The New York Times has published an article, and an accompanying chart, on how Social Security is expected to pay out more money this year than it will collect in taxes. The Congressional Budget Office did not think that would happen until 2017. If the CBO missed this target so badly, it makes one wonder how bad they will miss the target on the deficit, or on the cost of health care. While the chart is a simple visualization, it has profound implications on all United States citizens.
The problem, [Stephen C. Goss] said, is that payments have risen more than expected during the downturn, because jobs disappeared and people applied for benefits sooner than they had planned. At the same time, the program’s revenue has fallen sharply, because there are fewer paychecks to tax.
via Social Security Payout to Exceed Revenue This Year – NYTimes.com.
