A new report from the Social Security Administration expects the program to hit insolvency by 2035. Some experts say it could happen as soon as 2028 if there is a serious recession.
Historian Amity Shlaes on the good intentions and bad results of LBJ's war on poverty
Historian Amity Shlaes talks about the last time a president massively expanded the federal government to help people.
Amity Shlaes's new history of the late 1960s explains the failure of the last time the federal government tried to fix all that was wrong with America.
Federal budget deficits continue to grow despite a thriving economy
Neither party is serious about reining in spending. This is unsustainable.
As debt soars, federal payments to service the debt will crowd out the government's core spending responsibilities.
The national debt will hit 140 percent of GDP before the end of the 2040s, and that's the optimistic scenario.
The federal budget situation used to be an emergency. What happened?
"Show me the majority for cutting spending," he says.
When the program becomes insolvent in the 2030s, the inevitable cuts will hit today's workers and retirees.
So we're probably only 15 years away from Congress deciding that's a big enough crisis to do something about it.
Plus: Violence in Sri Lanka leads to social media suppression, and the White House wants to make it harder for pretrial diversion participants to get government jobs.
Former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels' totally insane, very practical ideas about how to fix college debt, reform entitlements, and redefine social justice
A new record, but one that won't stand for long.
Or the $22 trillion (and counting) national debt. Or the entitlement programs that will continue adding to them.
The House Freedom Caucus calls it "a sprawling, cronyist agriculture bill."
You have come to the right place for CBO death porn.
Brian Riedl has a plan to stabilize the national debt at 95 percent of GDP. He says trying it might be political suicide, but the alternative is much worse.
It's time to find out how deep in the red our country is.
"There's no for-profit business in the world that could sustain itself or survive with $20 trillion in debt," says Howard Schultz. "It's just not responsible."
Poor people are likely to make better food choices for themselves than the government.
And, weirdly, grocery store cronyism might be the thing that stops it.
Abraham Lincoln couldn't have dreamed that 21st-century Americans would still be paying for pensions created under him.
Center for American Progress' Neera Tanden and Foundation for Government Accountability's Tarran Bragdon debate government handouts at the Soho Forum.
Reason editors point to the good stuff in tax reform, and the bad everything else
Americans might love what Sanders offers in the way of more benefits for more people. What they would hate is paying for it.
But is Jeff Bezos the new John D. Rockefeller?
Not only can entitlement programs be rolled back, but politicians who do it can even get re-elected.
Democrazy, his new memoir, explores the hidden side of Washington, D.C. where it's all about money, power, and...finger food.
Ready for another round of tax cuts combined with spending increases?
Trey Radel explains why he's not "just another tea party asswipe who got busted for drugs and voted to drug test food stamp recipients."
The party has already given up on five of its core issues.
The president takes a reckless stance on free trade, entitlements, and debt reduction.
Is the OMB's kill list a sign of fiscal seriousness or the opposite?
Trump doesn't care about restraining the welfare state. He just wants to make sure the benefits go to the right people.
The cost of today's and tomorrow's lavish public pensions and entitlements will be borne by younger Americans.
Matt Welch assesses Hillary Clinton's absurd "I do not add a penny to the national debt" claim on Stossel
Weekend spat reveals much about the state of the contemporary GOP.
Study uses technological advancement to call for expansion of the state.
You can lead people to Whole Foods, but you can't make them buy organic kale.
Expanding a retirement program that's not fiscally solvent is no way to treat the young.
Sanders, who is a fan of communist regimes, accuses a center-right governor of being responsible for people dying because of his policy preferences.
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