Image: Alexander Rabb via Flickr Creative Commons, https://flic.kr/p/adYxAX Republicans want to scale back social insurance programs. They see dignity in retirement and relief from poverty as a burden on government, and an unnecessary extravagance for undeserving beneficiaries. From 1936 GOP presidential candidate Alf Landon, who called Social Security a “cruel hoax” on American workers, to …

Continue reading Get Ready For A Post-Election Push To Slash Social Programs

Image: Nick Youngson via Blue Diamond Gallery/Creative Commons 3, http://www.thebluediamondgallery.com/handwriting/s/social-security.html For decades, some of our most prominent U.S. politicians have been sounding the alarm that Social Security is an important driver of the federal budget deficit. But is that really true? By law, Social Security cannot contribute to the federal deficit, because it is required …

Continue reading Social Security and the U.S. deficit: Separating fact from fiction

Image: Nick Youngson via Blue Diamond Gallery/Creative Commons 3, http://thebluediamondgallery.com/legal/social-security.html A persistent story about Social Security, greedy baby boomers, and badly-treated younger people periodically rises from the grave. But the story is false. I hope that my shining the light of facts can help kill this false story. Spending on the elderly does not displace spending …

Continue reading The Zombie Myth About Social Security Hurting The Young