It’s not easy, but voters must avoid distractions

With fewer than 60 days to go before the presidential election, the American people have no time to waste. Forget Nancy Pelosi’s haircut and her seconds without a mask in a San Francisco hair salon last week. Forget President Donald Trump’s failed attempts to find a nickname for Joe Biden that sticks — so far, Sleepy Joe and Joe Hiden aren’t catching on. Forget even Trump’s bizarre claims that black-clad thugs on planes are flying around the country to wreak havoc on the streets.

These are distractions. And it is now, in the weeks before the votes are counted, that Americans need to pay attention. Not to shiny objects designed to distract, but to the substance below the surface.

Take, for example, the program established by President Franklin Roosevelt to ensure the elderly in our country do not suffer once they retire from work. Social Security, passed during the depths of the Depression, remains an integral part of retirement for almost all Americans.

Yet Trump wants to end the payroll tax that pays for Social Security, Medicare and disability benefits. It’s one of the most specific policy actions the president has discussed. He believes in it so much that the president is using an executive order to defer the tax temporarily.

Like so many gifts from this president, the deferral is temporary. Workers, already hurting because of the shaky pandemic economy, would have to pay the tax back. That money would come out of paychecks starting in 2021.

It’s unclear whether employers can opt out — we hope most do — because this temporary suspension is the wrong policy solution for the moment.

Not only does it not assist people who are really hurting, the folks without jobs, it would begin the process of defunding Social Security. And moving money away from Social Security should be a nonstarter.

Yet eliminating the payroll tax permanently is one of Trump’s clear promises if he wins. Here’s what he said in August. “If I’m victorious on Nov. 3, I plan to forgive these taxes and make permanent cuts to the payroll tax. I’m going to make them all permanent.”

The tax on wages, paid by employers and employees, keeps this crucial retirement system funded. Rather than eliminating the payroll tax, Congress should raise the income cap so high earners pay more. Other fixes could include increasing the retirement age, means testing benefits and a mix of other solutions. Shoring up Social Security should be a priority of the next president.

That’s because current figures from the Social Security Administration estimate that by 2035, funds could cover only 75 percent of promised benefits. The system needs more, not fewer, dollars to remain solvent. When fewer people are working and paying into the system, it’s no time to defer the payroll tax.

To be clear, Trump is not suggesting eliminating Social Security. He says Social Security and disability dollars would come from the general fund rather than a specific tax. Considering the size of the debt built up under Trump, it’s unwise to depend on general fund dollars.

This is the same guy who said “Obamacare” should end and be replaced. Toward the end of a Trump first term, there is no GOP health care plan to put in place of the Affordable Care Act. With Trump, who has the attention span of a toddler, we don’t trust a promise that Social Security would be funded in a responsible, reliable manner. Eliminating the payroll tax — with no replacement revenues — could deplete the Social Security trust fund by 2023, actuaries maintain.

Such proposals would hit vulnerable Americans where it hurts — in their pocketbooks, hurting the elderly and disabled. Voters cannot be distracted. Policy might be less engaging than social media outrage, but it changes lives.