Republicans Ready To Attack Social Security

The Republicans have never liked Social Security. They have tried to cut it many times, and during the Bush administration they even tried to abolish it -- in favor of "private accounts" that there rich buddies on Wall Street could get richer by investing the money in the stock market (making retirement funds a gamble on the health of the market). Lately they have been using the government deficit to attack Social Security -- making it sound like Social Security is the cause of the government deficit.

Of course that's a lie. Social Security is not now, and never has been, funded out of general revenues. Cutting, or even abolishing Social Security, would do nothing to balance the budget or erase the government deficit. Social Security is completely funded through the FICA tax (and has the funds to continue paying full benefits for many more years).

But Republicans are not about to admit the truth. They want people to believe the deficit makes cutting Social Security a requirement to balance the budget. They are still pushing the big lie. Listen to what House Speaker John Boehner (pictured) said recently, "People in Washington assume that Americans understand how big the problem is, but most Americans don't have a clue. I think it's incumbent on us, if we are serious about dealing with the big challenges, that we go out and help Americans understand how big the problem is that faces us." He's talking about Social Security and Medicare -- and he's lying.

But if he can sell that lie to enough people he can cut both programs, and he said that's just what he wants to do -- and he wants to do it in this session of Congress. Don't expect him to offer a reasonable solution to fixing Social Security (which won't run into problems until about 2037 -- and won't be broke even then). The future problem facing the program could easily be eliminated by making the rich pay the same percentage into FICA that eveyone else does (it's currently capped at the first $106,800 of income).

But Republicans will never go for that easy fix. That would mean their rich buddies would have to pay the same as the working and middle classes pay -- and they would never ask the rich to pay their fair share. Instead they will demand that the retirement age be raised and benefit checks be cut -- putting the entire burden on those who can least afford it.

Once again I say, don't believe the Republican lies. Demand that the program be fixed -- not gutted. And remember, this has nothing to do with the deficit (created by the Republicans themselves).