Social Security, falsely attacked again
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Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry's unfounded attacks on Social Security continued this past weekend in Ottumwa, Iowa, where he once again declared Social Security "a Ponzi scheme." He continued, "The idea that [young people are] working and paying into Social Security today, that the current program is going to be there for them, is a lie. It is a monstrous lie on this generation, and we can't do that to them."
Gov. Perry doesn't understand the differences between Charles Ponzi's illegal scheme to defraud investors, which lasted 200 days, and Social Security, which has been operating successfully for 76 years. In his ongoing attack on Social Security, he conveniently overlooks that Social Security, unlike a Ponzi scheme, has a secure, ongoing and dedicated revenue source -- income from payroll tax contributions. Social Security is also monitored carefully by elected officials who have strong incentives and the capacity to make adjustments from time to time.
Social Security is the opposite of a Ponzi scheme, which is a fraud, a deceptive promise made by a swindler that investors will reap huge returns. Social Security is a promise by the United States government and a set of protections earned by working persons that insures against lost earnings resulting from severe disability, retirement or death. And it delivers on that promise, which is why it is America's most successful and popular federal program.
Like any system, Social Security can experience problems, but it can never go bankrupt. Its major source of income is from the contributions of workers and employers; as long as there are workers, Social Security will have income. Even if Congress took no action, Social Security can pay 100 percent of promised benefits for the next 25 years and more than three-quarters of benefits after that.
First Published September 1, 2011 12:00 am
