Reply #73: I get the point you're making, but disagree with the presumtion that... [View All]

SS is something that "isn't there". The SS trust fund contains treasury securities totaling roughly 1.7 trillion. Nevertheless, SS was never meant to be a big pool of money - it's a pay-as-you-go program. The trust fund is simply a reserve meant to cushion the impact of the boomers' retirements.

Republicans want us to believe that the SS system is a joke - that there's nothing there - because a loss of faith in its solvency undermines support for the program. Republicans have despised the SS program since its inception. By lowering expectations they hope to prepare us for a day when they can eliminate it altogether without an outcry. And they are making real progress because we're seeing a more widespread belief that there's "nothing there" - even here at DU. The WW2 generation would have buried any politician who failed to protect and defend SS. Younger generations should also expect SS to be there for them, and be willing to fight like hell for it. But unless we all start with the assumption that "it damed well better be there for me", they'll succeed in killing it eventually. We MUST ensure that republicans know that the demise of SS will bury them, and we can't do that unless we believe in the program.