This weekend at Netroots Nation, Nancy Pelosi vocalized her opposition to raising the retirement age and otherwise messing with Social Security.
"To change Social Security in order to balance the budget, they aren't the same thing in my view ... When you talk about reducing the deficit and Social Security, you're talking about apples and oranges."
And she's right.
Social Security has been paying for itself since day one. We all pay into it when we work so it's there for us (and our families) when we need it. We earned it.
Deficit hawks who would like to blame the deficit on Social Security are outright lying.
Social Security does not borrow any money and by law cannot add a penny to the deficit. It is a separate program unto itself and that's why Pelosi correctly said talking about the government's budget deficit and changes to Social Security is discussing apples and oranges.
With a $2.6 trillion dollar surplus, Social Security is far from bankrupt. The federal government has borrowed money from Social Security to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Wall Street bank bailouts, and the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
The budget deficit has nothing to do with the solvency of Social Security. It's time to make the government solvent so it can honor it's bonds to Social Security.
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