The GOP Continues To Tell Lies About Social Security

I have written about this several times before, and I will continue to do so. That's because the elected officials of the Republican Party continue to lie about Social Security.

Why do they lie about it so much? Because they hate the program. They voted against it when it was passed decades ago, and since then, they have done their best to eliminate it. They know the program is among the most popular federal programs (because it works to keep millions of seniors out of poverty), so they have to lie about the program to try and get people to support their efforts to destroy it.

The latest lie, and perhaps the biggest, is that Social Security eats up too much of the federal budget -- and to reduce the deficit and national debt, Social Security must be cut. That is simply not true.

The deficit and national debt concerns the discretionary budget -- the budget that Congress controls, and is paid for with income and other taxes. Social Security is NOT part of the discretionary budget. It is wholly paid for from FICA payroll deductions which go into the Social Security Trust Fund. That trust fund has funded every bit of Social Security benefits paid. Social Security has NEVER added a single penny to the federal deficit or national debt (and cutting benefits, or doing away with the program altogether, would not lower the deficit or the national debt).

Another lie the GOP loves to tell is that Social Security is going bankrupt. It's not. It will be able to fully fund all benefits until about 2035, and would be able to continue funding about 80% after that date. The is something that could easily be fixed without cutting benefits. Simply raise the cap on income subject to the FICA deduction to about $250,000 (or eliminate that cap completely). Doing either would fully fund Social Security benefits for many decades, and it would do it without most workers having to pay any more or suffer a benefit cut.

Let me address also, the way politicians and the media talk about Social Security. They love to use the word "entitlements". This infers that seniors are getting something for free that they have not earned. The truth is that Social Security is retirement insurance, which all workers pay for their entire working lives -- and they have a right to receive benefits after retiring. Don't let any Republican tell you otherwise.

We do have a problem with a huge federal deficit which now adds about a trillion dollars a year the national debt -- but this has nothing to do with Social Security! It's because of huge tax cuts for the rich and corporations and a bloated military budget. Don't let the GOP use Social Security as a scapegoat for their own fiscal irresponsibility!