Rep. Paul Ryan is the Republican leader most often touted as a seriouspolicy wonk.His plan to “fix” Social Security was recently evaluated by the chief actuary of the Social Security Administration. As the Washington Post notes inan article today (10/21/10), Ryan’s plan”would slice initial benefits by about a quarter for middle-income Americans who turn 65 in 2050.”
So why is the Post‘s headline “Republican Rep. Ryan’s Social Security Plan Would Cut Benefits for High Earners”? While it is true that the wealthy would see benefit cuts,it would seem moreimportant to notehow his plan wouldaffect most people.
Economist Dean Baker (Beat the Press, 10/21/10) further points out that by comparing benefits under Ryan’s plan in 2050 with benefits today–rather than with the benefits retirees are currently scheduled to get in 2050, which are 48 percent larger than today’s–the Post is greatly understating the scale of the cuts. And Ryan’s proposal to raise the retirement age to 70 will cut everyone’s benefits, not just “high earners”–however you define them.
According to the Post article, by Lori Montgomery, “With congressional elections less than two weeks away, the Ryan plan has been a frequent target for Democrats accusing the GOP of plotting to gut Social Security.” The Post seems determined to disguise the fact that these accusations have a great deal of truth to them.
Patrick Moynihan, Democratic Senator from New York & Nixon advisor said Uncle Sam was stealing the Social Security Trust Fund by using it to show lower deficits. The Bush & Reagan administration used this accounting to show lower deficits when they cut taxes for the rich.
David Cay Johnson has pointed out in ‘Perfectly Legal’ that this accounting method helped the right wingers use Social Security cash paid in to give huge tax deductions to the rich and not show the Trillions of dollars of deficits they were creating.
Moynihan was told it was crazy to think that Uncle Sam would reneg on his notes to the Social Security system any more than the U.S.would default on Treasury bonds.
Is Uncle Sam defaulting? Should the Social Security dependents pay for the reneging while the rich keep their trillions in tax reductions?
Jim Greene, Orlando
this sentence “Rep. Paul Ryan is the Republican leader most often touted as a serious policy wonk,” explains how far off the rails american political discourse has gone…..
Mr. Greene:
Is China aware of this T-Bill scam? I don’t think they would take kindly to being stiffed & every other country that is doing business with our government might think twice before any more business. But if it’s true that the government intends to default, I want my money back & I want it now. I can really use it–NOW!