Gingrich Raiders Attack Social Security

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has newly projected a budget surplus of $1.6 trillion over a ten-year period. The Gingrich/Kasich House leadership couldn't resist the temptation offered by the new CBO projections, and are now pushing for a $700 billion tax cut over the next ten-year period. If enacted, the Gingrich/Kasich tax cuts would primarily benefit the wealthy.

 

The tax cut is especially egregious because both the present and the future projected budget surplus are due solely to the Social Security Trust Fund collections. Moreover, Social Security, which makes up the surplus, is collected overwhelmingly from working poor and middle class workers. Without Social Security taxes both the present and all future budgets over the next ten years would run budget deficits. It is obscene that Gingrich and Kasich would use money paid by the workers of America to provide for retirement to further their own political ambitions.

 

In the midst of this huge windfall provided by Social Security, Republicans are attempting to privatize Social Security, using spurious figures to fuel a Social Security "crisis." Using the most pessimistic numbers that the Social Security Trustees provides out of their three estimates, Social Security will still be funded for the next 34 years. And many noted economists have labeled these figures extremely pessimistic.

 

Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), one of the staunchest defenders of Social Security, notes that with a few adjustments, Social Security could be prepared for even this worst case scenario, without privatization, raising the retirement age, or even increasing taxes. "We should realize that we do not face a crisis at all, but a financing gap over the next 75 years that is probably considerably smaller than the very manageable 2.19% gap projected by the Trustees . . . It is entirely feasible to close this gap without raising the retirement age, without reducing benefits, without increasing tax rates, and without subjecting people's retirement income to the risks of the stock market by forcing them to substitute individual accounts for part of their Social Security."

 

Far from the problematic system conservatives make it out to be, Social Security is by far the most successful American social program, with extremely low administrative costs, no loopholes or complicated requirements, and a smooth-running system that has always delivered benefit checks on time, during wars, recessions, government shutdowns, and all other emergencies. It is perhaps partly because it is an example of how government can run efficiently that Wall Street interests want so desperately to shut it down.

 

ADA is against all forms of privatization of Social Security and equally reckless schemes to gamble with the retirement money of American workers. Equally, we are against the Gingrich plan to use Social Security money to line the pockets of wealthy corporate interests. Social Security is efficient and uncomplicated, and the only crisis it faces is a Republican leadership striving to do away with it.

 

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