More scare tactics about Social Security

To the editor:

Thomas Mitchell’s Wednesday blog post repeats the same misleading scare tactics that Republicans and other Social Security opponents have been using for years to undermine the program.

Mr. Mitchell claims that I “pay no attention to the actuarial tables” and then proceeds to ignore them himself. If he actually looked at the report produced by Social Security’s actuaries (http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/2010/), he would see that the program, even without a single change, has sufficient assets to pay every penny of promised benefits until 2037. After that, the program doesn’t just declare bankruptcy and close down — it can pay roughly 80 percent of promised benefits from incoming revenue. In fact, since benefits increase with rising wages over time, the benefits payable in 2037 actually will be larger than those paid today, even accounting for inflation. 

After first basing his argument on the actuarial tables that account for the Social Security Trust Fund, Mr. Mitchell in the next sentence does a 180 degree flip and claims that the whole trust fund — actuarial tables notwithstanding — is a myth. This is itself a myth. The Social Security Trust Fund is established by federal law, and holds more than $2.5 trillion of Treasury securities.

Social Security opponents typically deride these securities as nothing more than meaningless “IOU’s.” In truth, these securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, just like Treasury securities held by investors around the country, in China, and elsewhere.

To claim that these are “mere IOU’s” that are subject to default is to argue that the U.S. government would treat China better than our own seniors. That may be Mr. Mitchell’s preference, but it will not happen, and it shouldn’t. Not only because it would be grossly unfair to the millions of working Americans who have contributed to the fund, but because defaulting on a legal obligation could undermine our nation’s financial standing, substantially increase interest costs, and weaken our economic future.

Unfortunately, incessant attacks by politicians, pundits and Wall Street financiers have convinced many that Social Security hands out lavish welfare checks. But Social Security is not welfare. Seniors earned their benefits by working hard and paying into the system.

Meanwhile, the average Social Security benefit is only $14,000. Mr. Mitchell may believe that’s too much for Americans who have spent a lifetime contributing to their communities. I don’t.

HARRY REID

Washington, D.C.

The writer, a Democrat, represents Nevada and is majority leader of the U.S. Senate.