Social Security belongs to the American people, who pay for it every day. More than 50 million Americans, including more than 9 million disabled Americans under 65 and 36 million retired workers, already count on benefits to make ends meet. If our representatives plan to cut it, voters need to know.
Benefit cuts should be off the table completely. Raising the retirement age to 70 would be the same thing as a 19 percent benefit cut. Social Security benefits pay, on average, a modest $13,000 per year. Cuts would push more people into poverty.
 There is no Social Security crisis. Social Security will have a $4.3-trillion surplus by 2025. Social Security cannot—by law—contribute one penny to the deficit. Finally, the baby boom retirement isn’t a surprise: It’s why the Social Security trust fund was created. We can strengthen Social Security simply by making sure everyone pays Social Security taxes at the same rate.
Â
This article appears in Jul 29 – Aug 5, 2010.
