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Written by: Andrew Rettenmaier, Texas A&M University and Dennis W. Jansen, Texas A&M University

Published: 03 June 2023

 

Social Security is in trouble.

The retirement and disability program has been running a cash-flow deficit since 2010. Its trust fund, which holds US$2.7 trillion, is rapidly diminishing. Social Security’s trustees, a group that includes the secretaries of the departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services, as well as the Social Security commissioner, project that the trust fund will be completely drained by 2033.

Under current law, when that trust fund is empty, Social Security can pay benefits only from dedicated tax revenues, which would by that point cover about 77% of promised benefits. Another way to say this is that when the trust fund is depleted, under current law, Social Security beneficiaries would see a sudden 23% cut in their monthly checks in 2034.

As economists who study the Medicare and Social Security programs, we view the above scenario as politically unacceptable. Such a sudden and dramatic benefit cut would anger a lot of voters. Unfortunately, the actions necessary now to avoid it – like raising taxes or cutting benefits – aren’t getting serious consideration today. But we believe there are strategies that could work.

Where the money for benefits comes from

Roughly 67 million Americans, most of whom are 65 or older, receive Social Security benefits. The agency disburses more than $1 trillion annually. It’s the government’s largest single expenditure, constituting nearly 20% of the total federal budget.

Social Security is funded by a payroll tax of 12.4% on wages split equally between workers and employers. Self-employed people pay the entire 12.4%. This payroll tax applies to earnings up to $160,200 as of 2023. The government increases this cap annually based on increases in the National Average Wage Index – a measure that combines wage growth and inflation. The program also receives about 4% of its revenue from a tax on Social Security benefits, though not everyone who receives them has to pay this tax.

Social Security tax revenue stayed relatively flat after 1990. But the costs of the program rose sharply in 2010, in part because of early retirements in response to the Great Recession.

Social Security spending has recently been growing more rapidly because of a wave of baby boomer retirements, which added to a decline in the number of workers per retiree.

Costs of the program are expected to further exceed the money that’s coming in, which will continue to drain the trust fund, according to the program’s trustees.

Barring immediate action by the government, the trust fund’s exhaustion is only a little more than a decade away. And yet few members of Congress seem willing to do something about it. For example, Social Security reform was not even on the table during the 2023 negotiations over the debt ceiling and spending cuts.

Trust fund

Where did the trust fund, which helps cover the program’s costs, come from?

While the Social Security program was collecting surpluses from 1984 to 2009, that extra money funded other spending – keeping other taxes lower than they would have been otherwise and partially covering the budget deficit.

During Social Security’s years of surplus, the excess revenues were credited to the trust fund in the form of special-issue government bonds that yielded the prevailing interest rates. When those bonds are needed to pay for Social Security expenses, the Treasury redeems them.

Those bonds are components of the government’s $31.4 trillion gross debt.

Last reformed during the Reagan administration

Reducing the benefits current retirees receive would be extremely unpopular. Likewise, people now in the workforce who are nearing retirement would certainly object strongly if they were told to expect lower benefits in retirement than they have been promised throughout their careers.

The last time the government made big changes to Social Security was in 1983, during the Reagan administration, when the government enacted reforms that slowly reduced benefits over time. These changes included raising the full retirement age, a change that is still being phased in. Because of those changes, workers born in 1960 or later cannot retire with full benefits until age 67 – two years later than the original retirement age.

The 1983 reforms also included increases in the Social Security payroll tax rate from 10.4% in 1983 to 12.4% by 1990, and for the first time levied federal income taxes on higher-income retirees’ benefits. Workers bore the burden of the payroll tax increases and higher-income retirees bore the burden of the tax on benefits.

Those changes bolstered the program’s finances, but they no longer suffice.

The bipartisan 2001 Commission to Strengthen Social Security tried – and failed – during George W. Bush’s presidency to get Congress to enact reforms to shore up the program’s finances. There’s been no momentum toward resolving the problem since then.

4 principles

We believe that policymakers and lawmakers need to follow four principles as they consider how to move forward.

1. The program should be self-funded in the long run so that its annual revenues match its annual expenses. That way the many questions that arise related to trust fund accounting and whether Social Security tax revenues are being used for their intended purposes would be eliminated.

2. The reform burden should be shared across generations. Current retirees can share the burden through a reform that reduces the cost-of-living adjustment. Today’s workers can share the burden through an increase in the cap on income subjected to Social Security taxes so that 90% of total earnings are taxed. Continued gradual increases in the retirement age to keep pace with anticipated longevity gains would also be borne by current workers.

3. The government should make sure that Social Security benefits will be adequate for lower-income retirees for years to come. That means reforms that slow the benefit growth of future retirees would be designed to affect only higher-income retirees.

4. Any changes to Social Security should help constrain the future growth of federal spending, given the current and projected growth in the budget deficit.

Advantages of ending the delay

It appears that the U.S. – citizens and elected officials included – are deferring serious debate on this urgent matter until the trust fund’s depletion is imminent. That’s unwise. Acting sooner rather than later would leave more options available to gradually resolve the program’s financial shortfalls.

Ending this procrastination would also give the millions of people who rely on Social Security benefits, taxpayers and businesses more time to prepare for any changes required by overdue reforms.

Andrew Rettenmaier, Executive Associate Director of the Private Enterprise Research Center, Texas A&M University and Dennis W. Jansen, Professor of Economics and Director of the Private Enterprise Research Center, Texas A&M University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Written by: Preston Dyches

Published: 03 June 2023

What's up for June? Planets buzz the Beehive, your bright evening stars, and how the Summer Solstice revealed the size of planet Earth.

On June 1 and 2, Mars will be in the Beehive. The Red Planet passes through the Beehive Cluster, also known as Praesepe or M44. It's a well-known open cluster of stars located around 600 light years away in the constellation Cancer, the crab. The pairing will make for great viewing through binoculars or a small telescope, with a sparkle of faint stars surrounding the rust-colored disk of Mars.

You can watch Mars and Venus draw closer together throughout the month in the western sky following sunset. Nearby is brilliant, blue-white star Regulus — the heart of Leo, the lion. And on the 20th through the 22nd the crescent Moon passes through, making an especially lovely grouping at dusk on June 21st.

Turning to the morning sky, Saturn and Jupiter rise before dawn, with the Ringed Planet rising around midnight and leading brilliant Jupiter into the new day. Early risers will find them on the eastern side of the sky before sun-up all month long. And you'll find Jupiter rising with the crescent Moon on June 14th.

Facing southward early on June evenings, you'll notice two particularly bright stars high in the sky. They are Spica and Arcturus.

Blue-white Spica is the brightest star in the constellation Virgo, the maiden. It's located about 250 light years away, and is actually two stars orbiting each other every 4 days at a distance far closer than Mercury orbits our Sun.

Orange giant Arcturus is the brightest star in Bootes, the herdsman. It's the fourth brightest star in the sky. It's much closer than Spica, at a distance of about 37 light years. It's also quite an old star, compared to our Sun, at an age of 7-8 billion years.

Also on June evenings, you'll notice the stars of the Summer Triangle – Vega, Deneb, and Altair – rising in the couple of hours after dark, and heralding the long, warm nights of Northern summer. The Triangle rises earlier each month as summer progresses.

June 21 is the Summer Solstice for the Northern Hemisphere, and Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. For the north, it's the longest day of the year, as the Sun traces its highest, longest path across the sky.

More hours of sunlight, in addition to the more direct angle of the Sun overhead, translate into warmer summertime temperatures for our planet's summer hemisphere. The situation is reversed for those living south of the equator, where it's the shortest day of the year, during the cool months of winter.

The June summer solstice has another interesting claim to fame. It helped the Ancient Greeks, 2,200 years ago, to understand the size of our planet with remarkable accuracy.

A scholar named Eratosthenes noted the difference in the length of the shadows cast by poles placed in the ground in two cities, 800 kilometers apart, at noon on the day of the solstice. One cast no shadow at all and the other cast a significant shadow.

By comparing the shadows with the separation of the two cities, Eratosthenes deduced that Earth was about 40,000 kilometers in circumference, which is the actual value.

He was also the first to calculate the tilt of Earth's axis – which, after all, is what's responsible for the solstices and for the seasons themselves.

Stay up to date with all of NASA's missions to explore the solar system and beyond at nasa.gov.

Preston Dyches works for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

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Written by: Elizabeth Larson

Published: 02 June 2023

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Clearlake City Council on Thursday evening discussed the newly released report completed by the police department in response to complaints against the city’s animal control contractor.

The 95-page report on the situation at the shelter, run under a 10-year contract with the city by North Bay Animal Services, was released on Wednesday after the city’s legal counsel reviewed it.

Lt. Ryan Peterson spent a month completing the report after City Manager Alan Flora directed Police Chief Tim Hobbs to investigate numerous complaints community members had made about North Bay Animal Services, or NBAS.

The report can be seen in the council packet here, starting at page 42, following the two-page memo from Hobbs.

“There's been various iterations of animal control services in the city of Clearlake,” Flora told the council, explaining that, under state law, the city has no specific obligation to maintain and operate an animal shelter.

In 2020, the city received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop new shelter facilities, which led to the two new buildings the city installed at the Public Works corporation yard, Flora said.

Flora said it was about a year and a half ago, when both of the city’s animal control officers left for other positions and the city was unable to recruit replacements, that city staff began to look at other solutions.

That led to an interim agreement with NBAS for animal control services and shelter operations and. The city and NBAS entered into the 10-year agreement, for $375,000 per year, in August.

Earlier this year, the city began to receive a number of complaints about shelter operations, from overcrowding to animal care and welfare, to lack of communication and response from NBAS and its executive director, Mark Scott.

At a council meeting in April, Flora reported on the situation and told the council at that point that he had directed the police department to complete the report. By that point, Flora and police staff had already met with Scott and directed that NBAS follow the city’s requirements.

Peterson presents findings

Peterson said he contacted 22 individuals and interviewed 19 of them, including concerned citizens, volunteers, past animal control employees, NBAS employees and professionals including veterinarian Dr. Debra Sally.

He also reviewed several hundred pages of documentation and photos relating to the shelter.

Based on the interviews, Peterson said he identified 10 specific allegations as well as five “additional findings of concern.”

The allegations Peterson identified are:

1. Clearlake Animal Control, or CLAS, is over capacity and animals are being held in holding areas which do not meet the standards for housing, such as small crates.

Peterson said NBAS at one point was housing 80 dogs, due in part to keeping 20 from a dog hoarding case. It was previously reported that the shelter’s capacity is 70 dogs.

During Peterson’s investigation, the number of dogs fluctuated between 62 and 70. As of this week, he said it’s down to 58 dogs, with animals being moved out to adoption, foster and rescue partners.

2. NBAS does not provide spaying and neutering of animals at the CLAS.

Peterson said NBAS has a standing appointment on Wednesdays with Clearlake Veterinary Clinic for spay and neuter services, which they use for two to four animals per week.

3. NBAS does not provide veterinary services to the animals at the CLAS.

Peterson said NBAS is providing care. From January to April, NBAS spent approximately $20,717.36 for animal veterinary care and is on track to spend $60,000 this year. When the city was running the shelter, it averaged veterinary costs of between $27,000 and $36,000 annually.

4. Medications are not provided to animals at the CLAS.

Peterson said there is no evidence to support this allegation. Animals receive treatment and medication from a veterinarian and staff as directed, and logs are kept which note prescribed medications and when they are provided.

5. The CLAS has an outbreak of giardia affecting the animals.

Peterson confirmed that an outbreak of giardia — a microscopic organism that can lead to an intestinal infection in animals and people — occurred at the shelter. He said sick dogs were taken to the Clearlake Veterinary Clinic, the clinic provided NBAS with medication for the ill animals and, as of this week, there is no active outbreak at the shelter.

6. NBAS provides expired food to animals at the CLAS.

Sometimes food that has expired or has damaged packaging is donated to NBAS. Peterson said it was the same when the city ran the shelter, and that the food is reviewed to determine if it is still of usable quality; if it’s not, it’s disposed of.

NBAS provides new food along with donated food to animals and doesn’t intentionally provide expired food to CLAS. Peterson said it’s not uncommon for shelters to use expired food or food with damaged packaging to reduce the costs of feeding animals.

7. Lack of supplies and food at the CLAS.

Peterson said there is no proof of this allegation, and that from a review of the shelter, he found that it has adequate and appropriate cleaning supplies and chemicals.

8. NBAS does not follow the UC Davis recommended cleaning guidelines.

The UC Davis standards are suggested guidelines for cleaning of shelters, and those standards of cleaning were discussed with other professionals outside of NBAS. Peterson said that deep cleaning of the facility is not required or safe to do daily, and that cleaning of feces and urine on the floor is adequate on a rotational basis, which is an industry standard in accordance with the UC Davis suggestions. He said his investigation found that NBAS cleaned within the UC Davis suggested standards, as required by the contract between the city and NBAS.

9. Lack of responsiveness to the community by NBAS.

From the influx of animals at the shelter, it appears that NBAS does not respond to the community. Peterson said reports were provided during the investigation that shows a lack of community response to reported dog attacks and injured animals. When NBAS’ staff in Petaluma, the organization's other facility, were contacted, he said there is a lack of followup from staff dedicated to the city of Clearlake. Peterson said it’s currently being addressed by NBAS with the training of an on-site supervisor at the shelter.

10. No clear chain of command, a lack of supervision of staff and conditions at the CLAS by NBAS.

Peterson found there is a lack of on-site supervision at the Clearlake shelter. Scott is the direct supervisor for the shelter and isn’t always on site. As a result, NBAS currently is training an on-site staff member to facilitate direct on-site supervision of the shelter. He said many of the alleged issues could have been addressed more quickly had there been a clear chain of command.

He also reviewed five additional findings of concern.

1. A review of Clearlake Police Department records shows there has only been one citation issued for animal control-related crimes since the contact between NBAS and the city went into effect last year.

Lack of enforcement efforts contributes to animal owners neglecting their responsibilities and care for animals. NBAS administration has been notified regarding the need to increase enforcement.

Peterson said that is not sufficient, and that animal-related crime issues should improve with enforcement, which is the case for traffic-related crimes.

2. A past animal control employee alleged an injured dog had been held in an animal control vehicle overnight in August at the direction of their supervisor.

Peterson said this contradicted another employee’s statement that the animal had been placed in a kennel. The dog later was provided with veterinary services. This was the only such incident reported to Peterson, who couldn’t completely substantiate it.

3. The locking mechanism at the shelter was in disrepair.

That lock issue allowed unauthorized access to the site. Peterson said the mechanism has been replaced.

4. Volunteers and citizens had unsupervised access to the shelter and public works yard, which caused safety and security issues for NBAS and the city of Clearlake.

Peterson said this situation was unsafe, as it allowed access to areas where animals that were unsafe and aggressive were housed. Additionally, he said unfamiliar people were around the dogs, which he was told by officials at the Mendocino County shelter need about 16 hours of rest. New smells and people can stress the animals and also contribute to the spread of disease.

5. Overcrowding at the shelter is not an anomaly.

According to professionals outside of NBAS, regional rescues and shelters are at capacity or overfilled due to an influx of animals. Peterson said this has reduced assistance to shelters to house animals.

He said COVID-19 and the economy are believed to be a part of this issue, but that neither he nor the professionals he spoke to believe that’s completely the case.

“Animal care and control isn't a new problem for our community,” said Peterson, explaining that lack of spaying and neutering, irresponsible dog owners and roaming dogs have been problems for years.

No single government agency or organization can deal with this problem, which wasn’t created overnight and can’t be fixed overnight, he said.

Rather, Peterson said it will require the support and partnership of the community and local groups in order to supplement the resources the city has. That partnership is needed to be successful.

Questions about euthanasia; community members speak about issues

During the meeting, Councilman Russ Cremer asked if it is necessary to begin looking at euthanasia to reduce the shelter population.

Clearlake has been considered a no kill shelter for some time, which Peterson said doesn’t mean it’s a no-kill shelter but that it allows for up to 10% to be euthanized. With the dynamics of the community, Peterson said he believes that option needs to be considered.

However, Peterson acknowledged the impact on kennel technicians who care for the dogs and would have to deal with the animals being killed. “There is a human aspect to euthanasia even though it’s dealing with the animals.”

Cremer indicated it’s appropriate for aggressive dogs. Councilwoman Joyce Overton then suggested euthanasia would be determined based on a matter of time — that something would need to be done after four to six weeks.

Peterson said there are rescues that take on challenging dogs. NBAS has an animal behavior specialist on its staff.

He added that every professional he’s talked to made it very clear, animals do not have an expiration date. If they have the ability to house animals, every professional will do it.

While council members and some community members lauded Peterson for his work, the findings didn’t satisfy a number of others who have continued to raise objections over the shelter’s operations. Some of them said Peterson’s report just explained things away.

Rita Laufer blamed Scott for bad communication. “We care about our animals. We care about our city. It’s a shambles right now,” she said, adding that Scott wouldn’t return her calls. “You can't do business with someone like that.

“Shame on all of you,” volunteer Jamie Newland told the council and staff, adding she’s ashamed to be a citizen of Clearlake. She said the investigation should have been done by an unbiased outside source.

Dr. Debra Sally said animal control has always been a huge problem in Lake County, where there aren’t enough vets to do all the spaying and neutering. She said there need to be hard decisions made about animals that don’t get to go out to new homes and rescues.

Sally said it’s not an ideal situation with reducing animal population, adding that NBAS doesn’t want to make those decisions.

Charmaine Weldon, a current employee of NBAS who worked for the shelter while under the city’s operation, said she hoped the council could focus on making things better, including designating an on-site manager.

Weldon said staff should return every single call in a timely manner. If the shelter is full, they should offer alternate options and be realistic about the capacity of the shelter, as Weldon said the citizens of Clearlake deserve better.

Her nonprofit, the City of Clearlake Animal Association, offers crisis care and assistance for animals turned away by NBAS, such as was the case for a small dog it helped at the start of April.

During the discussion, Supervisor Bruno Sabatier recommended having a conversation with the city and Jonathan Armas, director of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

NBAS executive director answers questions

Scott also was at the meeting to speak to the council and answer questions, explaining that they want to work with everyone willing to work with them.

He said Peterson did a pretty deep dive into the situation. “It's a lot harder than you think, that’s for sure.”

Scott said they have spent more than $70,000 since August in veterinary care. “We’re dedicated. We’re here to make this work.”

When asked by Councilman Dirk Slooten about having only given out one citation for animal-related crimes, Scott said they had a learning curve issue and also had wanted to start with warnings, since it had previously worked for them.

During Scott’s comments, Mayor Russell Perdock stopped a few times to ask people in the gallery to settle down.

Scott reported that there are no cats at the Clearlake shelter now, as they’ve been transported to Petaluma, where they have a larger facility to house them.

Earlier on Thursday, they also had transported two more dogs out of the Clearlake shelter and were getting a handle on the population in the wake of the hoarding case, Scott said.

Cremer asked Scott about his stance on euthanasia. Scott said they do it for pain and suffering. To base it on a time limit of six weeks wouldn't work, he said. As an example, he cited the case of a dog that stayed at the shelter for six months before it was finally reunited with its owner in Vallejo after having been lost.

Flora told the council that they could ultimately break the shelter situation down into four main issues: communication and responsiveness, enforcement, population control and on-site supervision.

Last week, Flora, Hobbs and Peterson met with Scott and NBAS’ Board president to discuss the situation.

“This isn't the end of the road here. We still have a lot of work to do,” Flora said.

Flora said he appreciated the comments about how it isn’t something the city can solve on its own, but that it needs community participation and expected they would be talking about it more in the future.

Slooten asked if there will be additional shelter space when the city’s corporation yard eventually moves to its new location at the Burns Valley development.

Flora said they have no current plans to add more shelter space.

“If you want to break it down, most cities don’t run shelters. Counties run shelters,” Flora said, adding that the City Council previously decided to have one because of the need in the community.

Flora added, “And I think that if we put 100 new kennels in, we would fill them up next week.”

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.