The False Scare: Fear over Non-Existant Social Security Crisis

The Daily Howler has once again published a post discussing how the Right have created the widespread false perception that there is a crisis in Social Security.

Many reports about Social Security often presents information in such a way that readers assume that Social Security will go bankrupt by 2037. This is an incorrect message. What will happen in 2037 is that, “Social Security would collect enough in payroll taxes to pay out about 78 percent of benefits” as stated by a source in the linked article.

So you would get 78 cents for every dollar from 2037. It is not going to disappear.

And it is relatively easy to solve this problem, as seen in this previous post:

Myth: Benefit cuts are the only way to fix Social Security.

Reality: Social Security doesn't need to be fixed. But if we want to strengthen it, here's a better way: Make the rich pay their fair share. [More on that here.] If the very rich paid taxes on all of their income, Social Security would be sustainable for decades to come. Right now, high earners only pay Social Security taxes on the first $106,000 of their income. But conservatives insist benefit cuts are the only way because they want to protect the super-rich from paying their fair share.

So it is not going to disappear. Social Security is secure as is, and as seen above it is easily sustainable well past 2037 if only the rich paid for Social Security over the rest of their income and not just $106,000 of it.

There is no Social Security crisis in fact. However the Right are doing all they can to convince people that it will not be there for them in order that they may cut it. After all, if you think Social Security won't be there for you, why wouldn't you let the Right just cut it in order to make it better, as they incorrectly tell you.

Any such cuts must be resisted and not allowed to be put in force.