The Big Lie!

  The budget deficit that seems to be important except for when $750 billion of temporary tax cut were to expire at the end of 2010, is becoming important again.  What you can be sure of, because it is fact, is that exactly $0 of the current deficit is the result of Social Security.  The exact opposite is true.  If not for Congress adding the Social Security Trust Fund into the budget, the actual deficit would be worse.  The worst recession since the Great Depression, 2 unfunded wars, 2 unfunded tax cuts, and an unfunded Medicare Drug benefit, blew a giant hole in the budget.  The stimulus, which was needed, added to the deficit as well. 

  Social Security is not part of the problem.  Current projections show Social Security to be 100% solvent for the next 30 years without making a single change.  Somehow the term "entitlements" has become the catch phrase that encompasses Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.  Social Security is not an "entitlement", but rather a defined benefit that is earned through payment into the system.  Everyone who pays into Social Security receives a  Social Security Statement.  The statement shows exactly how much has been paid in and how much is earned.  As the name of this long-standing and extremely successful program says, it is all about the security of our society. 

  On the other hand, what we should be concerned about, and demand action on, is the cost of medical care.  Our system is broken.  When 30% of every dollar is used to pay the overhead of insurance companies (including their profits), we are wasting dollars that could pay for actual care.  The explosion in the cost to provide medical care to our retired and poor population is a cause for concern, but the state of Social Security in 30, 40, or 50 years from now is not a concern when looking at the current budget deficit.  Anybody who tells you it is, is part of The Big Lie.