How does one know when a Leftist is lying? When words are coming out of their word processors. There isn't a single accurate statement in this entire presentation. Yet these authors present these "facts" without explanation, documentation, or analysis. They are nothing more than a series of assertions.
Social Security is secure, solvent and here for the long term. Those who claim that it is not are just plain wrong.
If you repeat something even if it’s wrong often enough, people begin to believe it. (Irony alert).
The fiscal foundations and future of Social Security, so important to so many of us, have been subject to a blizzard of misinformation. Every year the Social Security Trust Fund Trustees report to Congress on the long-term financial health of Social Security. The reports provide our elected officials with the information they need to secure and ensure the fund’s future. Despite this year’s positive report, scare stories abound.
To defend and strengthen this vital safety net and insurance policy, relied on by millions of us, we must learn the real facts about its solvency and future reliability.
Social Security is here for the long term
The only way that Social Security could cease to pay its promised benefits is if Congress repealed the Social Security Act and the President signed it into law. (This is false. Without action by Congress benefits will need to be cut by 24% in 2034. And the gradual raising of the retirement age is a cut as well.)
To defend and strengthen this vital safety net and insurance policy, relied on by millions of us, we must learn the real facts about its solvency and future reliability.
Social Security is here for the long term
The only way that Social Security could cease to pay its promised benefits is if Congress repealed the Social Security Act and the President signed it into law. (This is false. Without action by Congress benefits will need to be cut by 24% in 2034. And the gradual raising of the retirement age is a cut as well.)
Congress has never failed in the past to adjust the program to cover benefits. (Corrected sentence: Congress has never failed in the past to cut the program to cover benefits.)
The fixes to any problems are readily available and painless. These include raising the dollar amount that is subject to Social Security taxes. (Tax increase. The leftist solution to every problem.)
Social Security has revenue streams other than payroll taxes
In addition to payroll taxes, Social Security has other revenue streams including investment income from its large trust fund and taxes on benefits. ("Revenue streams," plural. But neither of these "revenue streams" are actual cash money. The "investment income" is interest paid by the General Fund for the bonds it issued to the Trust Fund. "Taxes on benefits" are simply benift money retained by the government.)
By law Social Security cannot pay benefits if it has insufficient cash to cover costs. This has never happened in the history of the program. Congress could count on being fired if they let that happen. (Um, if Congress broke the law it's certainly faced with more than getting fired.)
The Social Security Trust Fund is solvent
The Social Security Trust Fund has $2.8 trillion as of December 2023. These funds are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. They are more solid than private equities, stocks or corporate bonds. The Treasury invests the surplus in interest-bearing U.S. government securities, which in 2022, earned about $66.4 billion in interest. (No, the Trust Fund has $2.8 trillion in IOUs. These securities are bonds, which are debt instruments. This means the government issues bonds to the Trust Fund in return for putting the cash assets of the Trust Fund in the General Fund, and that money is spent elsewhere.
The Social Security Trust Fund is solvent
The Social Security Trust Fund has $2.8 trillion as of December 2023. These funds are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. They are more solid than private equities, stocks or corporate bonds. The Treasury invests the surplus in interest-bearing U.S. government securities, which in 2022, earned about $66.4 billion in interest. (No, the Trust Fund has $2.8 trillion in IOUs. These securities are bonds, which are debt instruments. This means the government issues bonds to the Trust Fund in return for putting the cash assets of the Trust Fund in the General Fund, and that money is spent elsewhere.
Further, the interest earned by the bonds in the Trust Fund comes from the General Fund. The General Fund receives the proceeds from issuing bonds to the Trust Fund and credits back "interest" to the Trust Fund.
In actual fact, there is no actual money actually invested anywhere. These are simply items on an accounting ledger. It's a shell game.)
Social Security does not add a penny to the public debt
By law, Social Security cannot borrow funds to cover its costs, therefore it doesn’t contribute to the national deficit. (No, the national debt.
Social Security does not add a penny to the public debt
By law, Social Security cannot borrow funds to cover its costs, therefore it doesn’t contribute to the national deficit. (No, the national debt.
Misdirection. Whether or not the Trust Fund can borrow money isn't relevant. The General Fund has borrowed the assets of the Trust Fund, and this debt must be paid back. Even though the debt is not included in the General Fund ledger, the borrowed money is still a debt. It's part of what the government owes.)
The real drivers of our current national deficit (No, the national debt.)
are two wars (Afghanistan and Iraq) launched and fought on borrowed funds, (Leftists love this talking point. They look at the expenditures of government and deem certain parts of it to be funded while other parts are deficit spending. So because they want to pin the cost of these two wars on Republicans, they regard the cost of those wars as unfunded.)
huge tax cuts for the ultra-rich including the Trump Tax Cuts of 2017, (Tax cuts do not cause debt. Overspending causes debt.)
and sky-high healthcare costs. (Government is the big player in healthcare. It's not an innocent bystander, it dictates the healthcare economy. And the result is "sky-high healthcare costs."
And by the way, "healthcare costs" is different than "health insurance costs.")
The good news about health care costs is that they can be and are being reined in by President Joe Biden and Sen. Jon Tester, (This is false. There has been no relief at all.)
in part by allowing Medicare to use its buying power to lower the costs of prescription drugs. (Prescription drugs is only a part of healthcare expenditures. And lowering Medicare's purchase costs only benefit the government, not Medicare recipient or the private market.)
Investments in preventive care have also lowered healthcare costs nationwide and will continue to pay dividends.
Undocumented workers are prohibited by law from receiving Social Security
And, Social Security is strengthened by the contributions of immigrants and new Americans who pay into the fund through payroll taxes. ("Undocumented workers" are by definition working. That means they are not retired and thus are not receiving benefits.)
Whistle Stop — Exposing Myths and Zombie Lies About Social Security
Are you surprised? So were we! That is why we are sponsoring a “whistle stop” tour featuring Alex Lawson of Social Security Works to help expose the myths that are far too widely believed. Alex will be visiting Glendive, Miles City, Red Lodge, Billings, Lewistown, Great Falls, Helena, Missoula and Butte this week.
You are invited to join us for a lively discussion about the bright future of social security, the largest and most effective anti-poverty program in our nation’s history, a program we demand that our elected officials and candidates support and defend. Look for local details at www.bigskyfiftyfive.org/whistlestop.
Terry Minow, Jon Ellingson, Elizabeth Marum, Barbara Archer, and Bill Bronson, serve on the Board of Big Sky 55+, a group that organizes older Montanans for solutions that advance the common good such as social security and affordable health care.
Undocumented workers are prohibited by law from receiving Social Security
And, Social Security is strengthened by the contributions of immigrants and new Americans who pay into the fund through payroll taxes. ("Undocumented workers" are by definition working. That means they are not retired and thus are not receiving benefits.)
Whistle Stop — Exposing Myths and Zombie Lies About Social Security
Are you surprised? So were we! That is why we are sponsoring a “whistle stop” tour featuring Alex Lawson of Social Security Works to help expose the myths that are far too widely believed. Alex will be visiting Glendive, Miles City, Red Lodge, Billings, Lewistown, Great Falls, Helena, Missoula and Butte this week.
You are invited to join us for a lively discussion about the bright future of social security, the largest and most effective anti-poverty program in our nation’s history, a program we demand that our elected officials and candidates support and defend. Look for local details at www.bigskyfiftyfive.org/whistlestop.
Terry Minow, Jon Ellingson, Elizabeth Marum, Barbara Archer, and Bill Bronson, serve on the Board of Big Sky 55+, a group that organizes older Montanans for solutions that advance the common good such as social security and affordable health care.
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