Opinion

Congress May Finally Touch the ‘Third Rail.’ Inflation Will Hold Them Accountable.

Congress May Finally Touch the ‘Third Rail.’ Inflation Will Hold Them Accountable.
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Veronique de Rugy
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Commentary

Your representatives may finally grab the feared “third rail” of U.S. politics. When the Social Security and Medicare trust funds run out in the early 2030s, the law is clear: Benefits must be slashed. That would mean a roughly 24 percent cut to Social Security checks and an 11 percent cut to Medicare benefits. But Congress almost certainly won’t let that happen.

Veronique de Rugy
Veronique de Rugy
Author
Veronique de Rugy, Ph.D., is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She has testified numerous times in front of Congress on the effects of fiscal stimulus, debt, deficits, and regulation on the economy. Previously, de Rugy has been a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute, and a research fellow at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation.