On Aug. 14, 2015, Social Security turned 80 years old. It is the most successful program in our government’s history. It provides basic support to the elderly, the disabled and their families. Poverty among the elderly is down to 10 percent.
So why do all the Republican candidates for president cry about the “national debt” Social Security produces that will kill our economy? Why does national media, unfortunately, take Wall Street’s line? Last month the New York Times said in an article, “Rising national debt levels may threaten the ability of millennials to collect on promised Social Security and Medicare benefits.”
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush wants to privatize Social Security — give it to Wall Street to destroy over time. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., wants to change age of eligibility and premiums — dropping benefits. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is edging toward the same. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie wants means testing. Sound reasonable? Let’s make Social Security a welfare-like program and then cut, cut, cut over time — like welfare, food stamps, Medicaid, and health and education programs.
Candidates want to see millennials and the generations who follow with fewer and fewer benefits. Most also want to cut taxes — and not fix disability insurance, either. Medicare? — That’s a whole other subject.
In 1935, Congressman John Taber of New York said, “Never in the history of the world has any measure been brought here so insidiously designed as to prevent business recovery, to enslave workers, and to prevent any possibility of employers providing work for the people.” Shall we kindly say he was off-base? Yes! Today’s Republican candidates are still “blowing in the wind,” as Bob Dylan sang. Falsehoods continue to abound.
Beyond FDR, today’s Republican candidates have forgotten President Reagan’s April 20, 1983, words upon signing a bill to preserve Social Security: “This bill demonstrates for all time our nation’s ironclad commitment to Social Security. It assures the elderly that America will always keep the promises made in troubled times a half a century ago. It assures those who are still working that they, too, have a pact with the future. From this day forward, they have one pledge that they will get their fair share of benefits when they retire.”
Social Security does not affect the national debt, period. It is self-funded through 2033, based on surpluses generated since 1984. After 2033, benefit payouts without a fix drop about 25 percent. The U.S. Treasury’s IOUs are assets, not debt. They are investments in treasury bonds, one of safest governmental assets in the world — the Social Security Administration. However, repayment to the trust fund is “problematic” to Republicans still mired in the 1930s and a limited trickle-down theory.
In any case, the future “problem” is easily fixed. Just remove the limit on Social Security’s taxable income. The current tax is capped at $ 118,500 or so. Ridiculous and wrong.
By the way, some 79 percent of U.S. voters want Social Security expanded, including 73 percent of Republicans, according to a 2014 report by Lake Research Partners for the Center for Community Change Action and Social Security Works. It’s just one of many such surveys in the last few years.
It’s a good policy question to discuss. Do the Republican Congress or presidential candidates care? No.
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