It seems the “go-to” argument for Washington conservatives opposed to funding anything they don’t like these days is “it will bankrupt Social Security”. We heard it with immigration reform and we heard it again with the repeal of DOMA. Problem is, it’s just not so.
Eric Laursen with the People’s Pension breaks it down simply:
“neither change will break us. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the additional cost to Social Security in 2014 of recognizing same-sex marriages in 2004 would be $350 billion over 75 years. That raises the estimated impact a grand total of .01% of covered payroll, from 16.03% to 16.04%. Meanwhile, Social Security chief actuary Steve Goss calculates that immigration reform as embodied in the Senate bill will add $500 billion to the assets in the Social Security trust funds over 25 years, and $4 trillion over 75 years. (One major reason is that these immigrants don’t have parents collecting benefits—when they retire, their children’s contributions will cover their benefits.)”
We also took on Fox News’ bogus claims at NCPSSM’s Equal Time