( CNN ) Social Security is often described as `` the third rail of American politics '' -- touch it and you 'll get zapped . So why do Republicans keep sidling up to it and sticking their fingers out ? There 's a brewing controversy in Congress over a small part of the program , which is just the latest version of an old routine that goes like this : Republicans say Social Security is going broke , and they propose changes that would cut benefits or otherwise undermine the program . Democrats shout `` Republicans are trying to cut Social Security ! '' Then the Republicans , scared of a backlash from older voters , back off . And why do we keep going through this ? Republicans will tell you it 's because the program is in peril , and if we do n't cut it back , it wo n't be there at all for future generations . Democrats will tell you it 's because Republicans never liked the program in the first place , and would love to kill it . That may be an exaggeration , but the fact is that Republicans hate big government , and government does n't come any bigger than Social Security . It 's also the most successful and beloved social program in American history . Most of us are too young to remember when growing old in America almost inevitably meant a miserable descent into poverty , but until the middle of the 20th century , that 's what it was . The current controversy revolves around a rule change Republicans made as soon as the new Congress was sworn in this month . Social Security is actually two separate programs , Old Age and Survivors Insurance ( OASI ) , and the much smaller Disability Insurance program ( DI ) . The disability program will be facing a funding shortfall next year , and to ensure that disabled people continue to get all their benefits , Congress would have to move some money from OASI into DI . This is n't anything new -- it 's been done many times in recent years . But House Republicans adopted a parliamentary rule barring the House from allowing that transfer unless it was accompanied by benefit cuts or tax increases . If it ca n't get worked out , people on DI could see their benefits cut substantially . So why would Republicans insist on this ? My guess is that they think forcing a mini-crisis over the Disability Insurance program 's finances will allow for a debate on the program that will make it easier to do what they 've wanted to do for a long time : cut it back somehow , either by reducing benefits , increasing the retirement age , or even partially privatizing it . The justification is always that the program is `` going broke . '' But that 's just not true . When people say that , what they 're usually referring to is that , according to the projections in the Social Security Trustees ' latest report , in 2033 the program 's trust fund will be exhausted . But even if there are no changes between now and then , the program would not be `` broke . '' That 's because it would still be taking in billions of dollars in taxes every day and paying them out in benefits . Even under this scenario , the program will still pay 77 % of recipient 's benefits after 2033 , according to the report . Which would be awful . That would be a large reduction in income for millions of seniors . But 77 % is not nothing . The people who tell you that the program will be `` broke '' are hoping that , faced with that ( fictional ) nightmare , you might be willing to accept steep benefit cuts now . But we do n't have to -- the projected shortfall can be fixed with some very modest changes , like raising the payroll tax cap ( right now you only pay payroll taxes on the first $ 117,000 of your wages , which means that the wealthy actually pay less as a proportion of their income than the rest of us ) or gradually raising the payroll tax by a point in tiny increments over an extended period . The point is , it would n't be hard to come up with some combination of changes that could take care of the shortfall without cutting benefits . But for that to happen , both parties would have to agree on that goal . And there 's reason to wonder whether Republicans really want a Social Security that 's strong and stable . Programs like Social Security and Medicare -- which provide vital benefits to millions of Americans and are hugely popular -- stand as a living rebuke to conservatives ' small-government philosophy . When Republicans tell voters that government ca n't do anything right , they hope that the voters do n't respond , `` Well , the government is doing a good job keeping my grandma from having to eat cat food . '' The idea that the program is perennially in crisis , on the other hand , validates everything else that Republicans say . Congress will probably work out the issue with Disability Insurance funding , just like they have in the past -- once the GOP starts feeling some political heat over it . But Republicans will be back for another attack on Social Security soon enough .
DI : Rule change adopted by new Democrats Social Security could end up cutting GOP disability benefits . He says it 's part of Congress 's perennial attack on Social Security as unsustainable , but there are better ways to fix .