Social Security can benefit future generations – if Congress acts Margie McDonald, Guest columnist

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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The author has nothing new to say. She repeats, almost verbatim, the inane talking points the Left has been using for decades. Here's one recent example.

Inevitably, the Social Security system is proclaimed solvent, followed by recommending crucial fixes. So it isn't solvent. Then, the solution always offered is to increase taxes, always on the rich. Reforms like clamping down on fraud or increasing efficiencies are always rejected.

So the author isn't really advocating for saving Social Security, her intent is to bolster leftist positions and attack and denigrate Republicans. 

She is all-in on The Agenda, and parrots The Narrative. The Agenda is the disassembly of The System, which is the American culture and way of life. The Narrative is the daily talking points disseminated by "Central Command," serving the implementation of The Agenda, and dutifully repeated by the media and talking heads.

Almost everything written here is false, misleading, or mistaken. But that doesn't matter, because accuracy or truth is not relevant. Only The Agenda is relevant.

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Every year, the chief actuary of the Social Security Administration (SSA) reports to Congress on how many years the program has left in the Social Security Trust Fund to fully meet the obligations of current and future beneficiaries.

Last year, that number increased by a year as the economy and jobs grew under the leadership of President Joe Biden.

This year, the system lost ground — going from 2036 to 2033. The anticipated shortfall drew closer due to several administration and congressional actions that reduce expected revenue streams into the trust — tariffs and inflationary trends threatening recession, global uncertainty and volatility, reductions in workforce, and fiscal policies that could lead to higher interest rates. (None of which have actually happened...)

There are steps Congress and the president can take to secure the system for current and future generations. But these steps need to be taken ASAP.

Attacks on the SSA workforce and the degradation of services to beneficiaries merely create confusion and distract from a discussion about solutions.

Here are some key things to understand.

1) Social Security cannot and will not run out of money. (...but changes need to happen ASAP?)

As long as there are workers paying into the system, Social Security will pay out benefits. (This is almost a nonsense statement. As long as money comes in money will go out.)

The Social Security Trust Fund is a separate fund established in the early 1980s to accommodate the demographic bulge known as the Baby Boom, the large generation born between 1946 and 1964. In fact, the Trust Fund is supposed to run out of money! But not before the Baby Boomers have largely passed, around 2045. (The Trust Fund is already out of money and has been for years. The Trust Fund receives its revenues from taxpayers then pays out benefits to other taxpayers. Whatever is left over is transferred to the federal government by means of bonds [debt instruments]. These are special bonds, that only the government can sell, and only the Trust Fund can purchase.

Thus the assets in the Trust Fund consist almost entirely of IOUs. The federal government owes the Trust Fund trillions.) 

2) In the early 1980s, planners did not anticipate the unprecedented and dramatic redistribution of wealth from low and middle-income workers to the top 5%. Before the 1980s, the earnings of the middle class grew in tandem with productivity growth. That ended with Reaganomics (aka “trickle-down theory”) and the economic doctrines promoted by Milton Friedman. (This is false. Let's look at Social Security revenues:

The reader can clearly see that revenues increased all through the Reagan presidency.)

Workers’ income stagnated, and the trust fund became unable to keep pace despite the growing economy. (Again, revenues increased during the '80s, and pretty much all the time except briefly turning down during recessions. )

This led to the current situation of the Trust Fund facing depletion 10-12 years earlier than intended. (SS is predominately funded by the middle class on down. This is the way it has always been. The SS cap by definition defines the program as being funded by earners other than the rich, ostensibly because SS benefits are almost all paid to people other than the rich.

It is impossible for the planners to have failed to account for wealth distribution because any supposed shift in income to being above the cap does not change the overall SS taxable amount. The author would need to demonstrate that there was less actual revenue obtained because because more earners were coming up short of the cap, which we can plainly see in the above chart did not happen.)

3) There is a fix! Upper-income earners have been exempted from paying into the system. Currently, Social Security taxes are not taken out of earnings above $176,000/year. Raising the threshold so that all income levels pay their fair share into the system would secure the Trust and make a long overdue increase in benefits possible. ( (Making changes that increase taxes on high income earners is a tacit admission that SS is not a retirement plan, it is a wealth redistribution plan. This is because it is a tax increase levied on people who will not receive any benefit whatsoever. 

If someone is taxed without the ability to receive benefit, that is a welfare program.)

4) Social Security can and should be there for coming generations. Removing the upper income cap would not raise taxes on the bottom 92% of workers and would not cut benefits. It fixes the problem for at least 75 years and would enable everyone receiving benefits to receive significant cost-of-living increases, which are desperately needed in this inflationary environment.

Social Security provides benefits to over 250,000 Montanans: children, seniors, and persons with disabilities. It lifted 66,000 Montana seniors out of poverty in 2023. In addition, it is the primary life insurance coverage protecting 98% of Montana children. (It is not life insurance.)

Social Security dollars are spent in Main Street businesses that supply everything from groceries to hardware. Most of us rely on it, directly or indirectly. (All of the SS benefits spent by recipients were first extracted from the paychecks of others. There is no new money being created, so "indirect" recipients already paid for the "indirect" benefits they get.)

Citizens must insist that our Congressional representatives do their jobs.

Congress can begin by rebuilding the beleaguered Social Security workforce which has been shredded by layoffs, slashed budgets, closed offices, and forced retirements. (This does not increase SS funding.)

They can push back on the Trump Administration’s DOGE-planned cuts to cripple services to beneficiaries with even more staff cuts, forced retirements and local office closures. (This does increase SS funding.) 

They can stop artificial intelligence entrepreneurs from invading our personal information and bulldozing through decades of strict oversight and restricted access, to play around in our most personal data held in strict confidentiality within the SSA. (This does not increase SS funding.)

And before giving away $4-5 trillion to billionaires, (??)

Congress must first and foremost fully fund the Social Security Trust Fund, (Oh. So SS does need fixing. Hmm.)

keeping the promises made by 90 years of Congresses and Presidents who have defended this vital economic insurance policy (It's not insurance. It's a tax with a promised future benefit.)

supported by the overwhelming majority of Americans.

Margie MacDonald served 12 years in the Montana Legislature. A lifelong Montanan, she lives in Billings. Currently, she is on the board of Big Sky 55+ in Helena.