Oklahoma Republican Congressman Tom Cole says “doing nothing about Social Security is not an option, and the biggest attack on Social Security really comes from those who want to simply ignore the issue.”
Cole, a member of the House Appropriations Committee since 2009, is trying to get Congress to act on the issue, and he sounded off about it in a weekly column posted on his congressional website on April 2.
He noted that his first action of the 118th Congress was the reintroduction of the Bipartisan Social Security Commission Act, which he has led or co-led for six Congresses now and most recently reintroduced in 2023. The legislation would create a bipartisan, independent commission of 13 people appointed by the President and Congressional leaders in both parties.
Within one year of its first meeting, the commission would have to report to Congress with a proposal to ensure Social Security’s trust funds are solvent for the next 75 years. This proposal would have to be made with the support of commission members, and then the proposal would receive expedited consideration in Congress for a vote.
“However, I want to be clear—I do not want to cut Social Security,” Cole wrote. “I want to prevent the very real cuts that are coming in a decade from now, while at the same time help save us from the catastrophic debt crisis our nation is facing. In fact, saving Social Security is exactly what my colleagues and I are trying to do, just as President Ronald Reagan did in 1983 when Social Security faced the same risk it does today.”
In 1983, a commission led by Alan Greenspan issued a report that served as a basis for Social Security legislation, marking the most recent significant reform the program has seen. It involved a bipartisan effort that included both benefit cuts and tax increases to address an impending funding crisis.
Referring to the oft-cited 2023 Social Security and Medicare Board of Trustees report, Cole noted that if no policy changes are made, Social Security’s funds will be exhausted in 2033. “Without reform, in 2033 and so forth, Social Security will only be able to pay what comes in, and beneficiaries will only receive 77 cents on every dollar they are due. This would cut $391 from the average retired American’s $1,700 [Social Security] check,” Cole wrote.
“Doing nothing about Social Security is not an option, and the biggest attack on Social Security really comes from those who want to simply ignore the issue.”
Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK)
“I understand the political benefit of ignoring the impending solvency of Social Security, but we are at a critical point in time,” Cole concluded. “If we ignore the very real, scheduled cuts that are coming, beneficiaries will actually see the cuts.”
He stressed again that he does not want to eliminate the country’s largest entitlement program, “but we must move forward on addressing this issue, and I am hopeful that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will work together to save Social Security.”
Democrats (and Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders) have proposed various legislation in recent years to expand the program by making benefits more generous while raising taxes on higher earners. Republicans, on the other hand, mostly oppose tax increases and have pitched raising the retirement age to reflect longer life expectancies.
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