Letter to the Editor: Preserving Social Security
The Washington Post Editorial Board published an article today (3/10/2023) entitled ‘The US has a debt problem. Biden’s budget won’t solve it’. The 2nd paragraph says it all: “…and will require cuts to… Social Security and Medicare.” I stopped reading the article once I read that part because Social Security does not contribute one penny to the National Debt.
That’s right. Social Security does not contribute one penny to the National Debt. Social Security is totally funded by employee/employer contributions each currently paying 6.2% of your paycheck.
Over the decades, contributions exceeded payments to retirees resulting in Social Security (and us) having a Trust Fund with a balance of ~$2.8 trillion. That’s our money. We even earn interest as this Trust Fund is invested in special Federal Treasuries. Sure, this interest payment is added to the National Debt, just like Congress pays interest on the rest of the ~$31 trillion debt.
Note that the wealthy buy regular Treasuries (to fund our debt) because they are the safest investments in the world. So, their Treasuries are good but our Social Security Treasuries are bad?
Our National Debt is skyrocketing because the US does not tax the wealthy and corporations. Trump’s tax cuts for the wealthy were not paid for just like the Bush and Reagan tax cuts for the wealthy were not paid for. The wealthy make even more money but the problem with the National Debt is Social Security?
Any perceived problems with Social Security are easily fixed by raising the cap (currently set at $160,200). That’s all it takes. There is talk of raising the age of retirement and other gimmicks that only hurt current and future retirees. If anything, the full retirement age must be reduced!
The reason why all Republican and some Democratic politicians hate Social Security is that they despise government helping anybody but the wealthy and corporations. They feel it is their money; they don’t want to pay FICA contributions; they don’t want to pay our interest; and they want to steal that $2.8 trillion Trust Fund. And they do not want the people to know that government can do good things for all Americans.
Now you know the truth. The wealthy want it all and us nothing. Just remember that Republicans will destroy Social Security in a heartbeat if they gain total power. Democrats want to preserve and enhance Social Security for all people. It’s an example of who loves and who hates America and the American people.
Mark Mihevc
Graeagle
