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Congress should enact legislation that would prohibit the use of work credits based on unauthorized earnings from being used to determine entitlement for Social Security benefits..Lawmakers remained in their home states and districts this week for the New Year's holiday. They will return to Washington on Monday, January 5th, to begin the first session of the 114th Congress. The Senior Citizens League looks forward to working with both new and veteran lawmakers in the New Year, and we will continue to advocate tirelessly on behalf of our members and supporters in 2015..That means the trust fund reserves money that came out of your paychecks to finance your earned benefits would become unusable by the Social Security and Medicare programs. Here's how that could lead to benefit cuts….The rationale for both the WEP and the GPO - that the Social Security benefit formula is overly generous to these individuals and that they are reaping unintended benefits - is very hard to justify today. In fact, Social Security benefits are quite modest when compared to the national pension systems of other developed nations. The modified benefit formulas used under each of these two provisions substantially reduces the benefit that workers were counting on, but these are benefits that were earned and paid for by Social Security taxes..The Congressional Budget Office recently reviewed a proposal that would boost the taxable amount of Social Security benefits, as one of the options for Congress to consider to reduce the federal deficit. The proposal, which the CBO has reviewed in prior versions of its Options to Reduce the Deficit, would tax Social Security and Railroad Retirement benefits the same way that distributions from defined benefit pensions are taxed. This is expected to increase the taxable income of older Americans..Nonetheless, TSCL will keep a close eye on the bill's movement in the coming weeks, since it could have a significant impact on the Social Security and Medicare programs. For updates, visit the Legislative News section of our website..If you meet all of these qualifications, you are eligible for a benefit as a divorced spouse that is equal to one-half of what your ex-spouse would receive at his full retirement age. For example, if he qualifies for a monthly benefit of ,000 at age 66, then you would qualify for ,000 per month at your full retirement age, also 6Your spouse may currently be younger than full retirement age, but his full retirement age year is simply used to determine what you would be entitled to. However, even if you qualify to do so, if you claim now, your benefit at 64 would be just 41.7% of your ex's benefit. It will be reduced because you are under your full retirement age..Currently, because the Trust Funds are a part of the unified federal budget, Congress regularly uses the "excess funds" those not immediately needed for purposes other than to pay out benefits. TSCL believes that this practice is fundamentally unfair to current and future beneficiaries, and because both programs are facing insolvency within the next two decades, we believe it is now more important than ever for Congress to end the irresponsible practice. TSCL enthusiastically supports the Social Security and Medicare Lock-Box Act, and we look forward to working with Congressman Walberg in the coming months to help build support for it..What can you do when you have trouble affording your vet?