Will Arkansans see $430 Social Security cut?

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tax, taxes, debt, deficits, spending, trillion, State of the Union, deficit hawks, balanced budget amendment, Jonathan Bydlak, immigration, $98.8 trillion, $970 billion, Social Security cutIf Congress doesn’t act, the average Arkansas retiree could see a Social Security monthly benefit cut of $430 in 2032, based on findings from the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

More than 19% of the state’s population, or 589,427 Arkansans, could be affected, including retirees, survivors and dependents. Arkansas could lose somewhere around $3 billion, which would be 1.6% of its economy. That percentage is the eighth highest among all the states.

All of that’s according to a new interactive tool, “No State Spared,” on the CRFBs website at www.crfb.org/nostatespared.

The reduction would occur because the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund is set to become insolvent in the fourth quarter of 2032. 

That’s the funding mechanism that pays Social Security benefits to senior citizens and their survivors. Another Social Security trust fund for disabled Americans is in good shape for at least the next 75 years.

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Westerman tries to engineer health care fix

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Bruce Westerman Fair Care Act

Westerman

U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., an engineer before he was a congressman, is trying to redesign the American health care system through the Fair Care Act.

He’s been introducing versions of the FCA since 2019 to reform a system that composes 18% of gross domestic product but often doesn’t produce better results than other countries’ systems that cost much less.

“I kind of approach everything from an engineering mindset,” he said. “You go through the engineering, problem-solving methodology. And it’s identify the problem, come up with a plan to solve the problem, do the work to solve the problem, and present your answer.”

Westerman said he proposed the 434-page FCA as a bipartisan solution. It has ideas from both parties and has had Democratic co-sponsorship in the past. He said past one-party efforts – the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and the unsuccessful Republican repeal effort in 2017 – haven’t worked. Continue reading →

Former Sam’s Club exec, Libertarian Jeff Wadlin, seeks to replace Cotton

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The former head of Sam’s Club’s Membership Department hopes to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton. Jeff Wadlin, 55, of Bentonville is running as the Libertarian Party nominee.

Hallie Shoffner is the Democratic candidate.

“I think a lot of people are not happy with the direction the country’s going right now,” he said in discussing his third party candidacy. “They’re not happy with the way that working families are getting squeezed, and I feel like I’ve got the right skill set, and I’ve got some time, and I wanted to get involved and give something back.”

The Virginia native brought his family and his product development and consulting firm

to Bentonville in 2011. His previous work had included starting an online salvage auto parts company, working at Capital One’s headquarters, and working for Caterpillar.

Wadlin started consulting for Sam’s Club in 2015 and then started working full-time for the company the next year. He eventually led its Membership Department recruiting and retaining members. He left the company in 2022 and started Wadlin Consulting, which helps companies with membership strategies and marketing.  Continue reading →

Lawmakers hit brakes on gas tax suspension

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Efforts to suspend the gas tax have stalled in Congress and went nowhere at the state level in Arkansas.

President Trump in May proposed temporarily suspending the tax. Doing so would partially offset gas prices that have risen to $4 per gallon because of the war with Iran. The idea seemed to have a lot of momentum at first, but no more.

Suspending the gas tax would require congressional action, which so far isn’t coming. Sen. Tom Cotton told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that it would not be a “durable solution” and that it would reduce funding for Arkansas highway projects.

Instead, he said the way to reduce oil prices would be to win the war and open the Strait of Hormuz that Iran has partially closed, and through which 20% of the world’s oil supply floats.

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Politicians choosing their voters

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Which party will control the U.S. House of Representatives after the November elections? It becomes harder to predict each time a state redraws its congressional district map.

As the year began, the conventional wisdom was that Democrats probably would retake the U.S. House majority because the party that doesn’t control the White House typically does better in the midterm elections. Republicans were favored to maintain control of the Senate.

President Trump’s current low approval ratings, along with $4 gas prices, would seem to further improve the Democrats’ chances. Supposedly, Democrats can even win a U.S. Senate seat in Texas, although I’ll believe it when I see it. 

On the other hand, it’s a long way to November, and things can change. 

Furthermore, the redistricting efforts by both parties, with Republicans appearing to benefit more, have scrambled the picture. Continue reading →