(from those who just want to dismantle government)

 Retiree News & Views January 2012

Noting that this is the season of top 10 lists, “Working Economics,” the Economic Policy Institute’s blog, posted a “Social Security Scrooge” version of the Top 10 Lies about Social Security:

1 Social Security costs are escalating out of control. No. Costs are projected to rise from roughly five to six percent of GDP before leveling off.

2 Americans want benefits but aren’t willing to pay for them. Wrong again. Americans across political and demographic lines support paying Social Security taxes. They also strongly prefer raising taxes over cutting benefits as a way to close the projected shortfall. The most popular option is raising taxes on high earners, since earnings above $106,800 aren’t taxed. But Americans prefer to close the gap on the revenue side even if asked to pay more themselves.

3 Our children and grandchildren will drown in debt if we don’t cut the social safety net. No, future generations will drown in debt — their own or the federal government’s — if we don’t address health care cost inflation. Cutting Medicare or Medicaid benefits just pushes costs onto the private sector. And there’s no reason to lump Social Security in with other programs since it’s funded through dedicated taxes and prohibited by law from borrowing.