This weekend, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Saul Friedman reinforced the Alliance's concerns over one of Obama's appointees to the recently formed "debt commsion." Friendman points out that former Senator Alan Simpson has harshly criticized Social Security and Medicare and further lashed out advocates of the programs.
Simpson supported President George W. Bush's plans to privatize Social Security, which would have significantly depleted its value. As a Senator, Simpson referred to older Americans as 'greedy geezers' and would have cut Social Security benefits under his plan to change the statistical formula used to calculate Cost-of-Living Adjustments.
Contrary to Simpson's beliefs, if the Commission takes a good look at Social Security and Medicare, it will conclude that these programs should be strengthened, not weakened. And they are certainly not to blame for this country's out-of-control debt. Since 1983, American workers have paid enough Social Security payroll taxes to accumulate a $2.5 trillion surplus in the Social Security Trust Fund, a fund which has been raided and used to fund other programs.
Comments