Opposing View: Hands Off Entitlements

Don't try to balance the budget on the backs of middle class, seniors.

January 25, 2010

Creating a commission that places a big red target on Social Security is an incredibly bad idea because Social Security is not the problem. Shifting blame onto social programs for the economic collapse caused by Wall Street excess, tax cuts during two wars and a housing bust ignores one basic fact: Social Security hasn't contributed one dime to our nation's bleak deficit and debt picture.

In fact, the extra contributions made by American workers to build up the Social Security trust fund surplus have been used for decades to cover up our true budget picture. In classic Washington style, so-called fiscal hawks have selectively redefined our debt and deficit problem in order to fit their preconceived solution - cutting Social Security. And the political cover of a commission is just what they need to do their dirty work.

America's seniors want fiscal accountability to return to Washington. However, they understand that targeting deep cuts in a program that has kept millions of American afloat, while at the same time Wall Street executives claim million dollar bonuses thanks to a government bailout, is not fiscal responsibility. They are strongly opposed to the budget cutters' strategy to use Social Security as a piggy bank to pay down the debt and balance our federal ledgers.

The political fiction underlying the creation of this commission consists of misleading claims that Social Security is an "entitlement monster" that is "bankrupting" our nation. Fiscal hawks have argued, even in times of budget surpluses, that our nation can't afford a Social Security program that provides an average retirement benefit of $13,800 per year. In fact, as this economic collapse has proved once again, we can't afford not to preserve and strengthen this basic retirement income for Americans.

Slowing the rate of growth in health care spending nationwide, revisiting our tax priorities, and closing the long-term Social Security shortfall are judicious strategies that can bolster the economic picture for our country. However, these are not the stated goals of commission proponents.

Our elected officials must understand what millions of seniors, the disabled and their families already know; a commission is a predefined solution to a misdiagnosed problem putting a target squarely on middle class America, young and old alike.