More on Social Security

Image from zenfs.com

This is a follow-up to a post from the other day.

I just learned something I didn’t realize before from “The Nation” magazine. Again and again over the years Republicans (and now some Democrats) have portrayed Social Security as the big bad monster, borrowing from the Treasury and sucking the life out of Federal government. Guess what? It’s the other way around.

The Federal government borrows from Social Security. The Treasury has been borrowing from the Social Security Trust Fund for 30 years, and the debt to Social Security beneficiaries now totals nearly $3 trillion. And the day is fast approaching when that money will be needed for its original purpose: paying Social Security benefits to the working people who contributed to the fund.

This is why they’re so hell-bent to cut Social Security benefits. They would like to get out of repaying the debt — that is, giving the money back to the people who actually earned it. The only way to do this is to cut the benefits — over and over again.

It’ll happen if we let it. Count on it. Don’t let it. Call your Senators, call your Congressman. I’ve done both, and I will again.