July 10, 2011
The Post continued its Jihad against Social Security by trying to take the poor hostage. The subhead of its lead editorial told readers:
“The never-cut liberals insist that Social Security grow forever — and thereby would hurt the poor.”
There is nothing in this piece that connects the opposition to Social Security cuts to hurting the poor. In the event that nothing is ever done to change the program and it begins to face a shortfall in a quarter century, the amount of additional revenue needed to fully fund the program would be far less than the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is not clear why the Post thinks that at a time when the elderly’s share of the electorate is roughly 50 percent larger than it is today, Congress would not come up with the funds to maintain benefits. It is certainly hard to understand why Congress would not maintain funding for poor.
The Post is also badly misleading readers when it says that “Social Security grow forever.” The main reason that Social Security is projected to grow is that the economy is projected to grow. Benefits actually are being cut as the age for full benefits is being raised from 65 to 67. From 2035 to the end of the century, Social Security benefits are projected to remain almost constant as a share of GDP.
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