Medicare's hospital trust fund will not be exhausted until 2026, two years later than projected only last year, according to a report released on Friday. Social Security can pay all benefits owed to every eligible recipient until 2033, the retirement systems’ trustees said on Friday. Sen. Bernie Sanders wants to strengthen Social Security for generations to come by making the wealthy contribute the same share of their income as everyone else. There was mixed news on the economy. Home sales and consumer confidence are up, according to reports released on Tuesday. By Thursday, however, came word from the Commerce Department that economic growth in the first quarter was sluggish. That same day brought news that the typical American household has regained only 45 percent of its wealth since the recession began.

Social Security Social Security is sound until 2033. Beyond that date, even if nothing is done to strengthen the system, there is enough in reserve to pay three-quarters of benefits. “The report confirms that Social Security is not ‘going broke’ and that it can pay every benefit owed to every eligible American for the next 20 years,” said Sanders, a Senate Budget Committee member and founder of the Defending Social Security Caucus. “Our job now is to make sure Social Security is strong not just for 20 years but for generations to come. The best way to do that is not to cut Social Security cost-of-living adjustments as Republicans and President Obama have proposed, but to do what Obama called for as a candidate in 2008. We must lift the cap on Social Security payroll taxes and make the wealthy contribute the same percentage of their income as other workers. Today, someone making $10 million a year contributes the same amount of money as someone making $113,700. That is absurd.” To read a fact sheet on the Keeping Our Social Security Promises Act, click here. 

Economy The front pages of newspapers on Wednesday were plastered with good-news stories about the economy. That same morning, NBC’s Chris Jansing asked Sanders if the economy was out of the woods. “That is a great question,” Sanders said, “and the answer is a definitive yes and no.” While the economy has improved, Sanders said he remains concerned about high unemployment, especially among young people and minorities, and gaping inequality in income and wealth in America. The Commerce Department also threw some cold water on the rosy assessments. The economy grew during the first quarter of this year at a modest 2.4 percent, slower than initially estimated. Also on Thursday, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis said the average U.S. household has a long way to go to recover the wealth it lost to the Great Recession. The typical household has regained only 45 percent of its wealth.

Tax Breaks for the Rich The top-10 tax breaks will put $12 trillion into the pockets of mostly wealthy Americans over the next decade, according to a Congressional Budget Office report released on Wednesday. Seventeen percent of the total tax breaks would go to families earning roughly $450,000 or more. “They’re going to have to pay their fair share of taxes because we are not going to balance the budget on the backs of the most vulnerable people in this country,” Sanders said. He earlier this year introduced legislation to close loopholes that let the wealthy and profitable corporations shelter income in offshore tax havens like the Cayman Islands.