![](\"https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/90107efdf8a83009f7945ac63\/images\/7ec2c68a-b7e7-3fe7-2bb9-559736ef74b2.jpg\")
<\/strong><\/p>\nSource<\/strong>: This cartoon accompanies\u00a0the text in Save Social Security from Its ‘Saviors<\/em><\/a>‘, 7\/2\/2022\u00a0by Stephanie Kelton<\/span><\/h4>\nEditors\u2019 Note:<\/strong> Recognizing the critical importance of employment and wages to the availability and level of retirement and disability benefits, the National Jobs for All Network has maintained an intense interest in Social Security since its founding. As we expressed this close tie: \u201cThe best insurance for Social Security is full employment at living wages”\u2014NJFAN\u2019s goal. A number of articles in our Uncommon Sense series\u2014\u201cWhat is Social Security<\/a>,\u201d \u201cSocial Security and Minorities<\/a>,\u201d \u201cWhat Really Supports the Elderly<\/a>\u201d\u2014pertain to the nation\u2019s retirement and disability program. Co-founder, economist June Zaccone has edited NJFAN\u2019s Social Security articles and has maintained close watch on the attacks on the nation\u2019s critical economic security program.\u00a0 What follows is a summary and distillation of Professor Zaccone\u2019s careful study and a link to the full report on which it is based.<\/em><\/p>\nSince the \u201creform\u201d push began, Democrats have joined Republicans in raising the retirement age for receipt of Social Security benefits and increasing payroll taxes enough to generate massive surpluses in the Social Security Trust Fund. (The Trust Fund rose to a peak of $2.8 trillion in 2017.)\u00a0 In his Wall Street Journal <\/em>article (4\/2017), Reagan economic advisor and Harvard economics professor Martin Feldstein proposed that later administrations follow the example of the Reagan \u201creform\u201d: to use Social Security surpluses to “offset deficit increases” in the Federal budget. These deficits resulted from the 2017 Trump tax cuts for the rich [as did the Reagan tax cuts]. When interest on the Trust Fund was eventually tapped, its use was taken as a sign of the final Social Security \u201ccrisis\u201d and the consequent imperative to cut retirement benefits.<\/p>\nThat major funding for the Democratic Party comes from the financial sector has apparently spurred the party of Franklin Roosevelt toward this perverse “reform”– including privatization. Ironically, the Monica Lewinsky scandal that paralyzed the Clinton Administration saved us from the Democratic Administration\u2019s privatization plan. Another plan to cut benefits\u2014proposed by the Obama Administration\u2014failed when intransigent Republicans refused the Democrat\u2019s proposed “grand bargain\u201d\u2014to cut Social Security and Medicare in return for tax increases and cuts in military spending.<\/a> Two Social Security advisers to Obama asked whether the Fiscal Responsibility Commission he set up \u2013which was headed by two people intent on cutting Social Security– was “a Social Security death panel.”<\/p>\nThis paper describes how very special Social Security is: how current benefits differ from owning private assets, and why many current views about Social Security deficits and the need to cut benefits–are simply wrong.<\/p>\n
Contrary to some assertions by members of both Parties and their advisors– Social Security<\/strong> is<\/strong> not in financial crisis; not in demographic crisis<\/strong>; and not unfair to minorities or women. Social Security is<\/strong> too important a program–for too many Americans–to be diminished by misguided proposals for \u201creform.\u201d<\/strong>
\n________________________________________________________<\/p>\nLink to full report:<\/strong> Let\u2019s Not \u201cReform\u201d Social Security (Except to Raise Benefits)<\/a><\/strong>, accompanied by this Slide Deck<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by June Zaccone Source: This cartoon accompanies\u00a0the text in Save Social Security from Its ‘Saviors‘, 7\/2\/2022\u00a0by Stephanie Kelton Editors\u2019 Note: Recognizing the critical importance of employment and wages to the availability and level of retirement and disability benefits, the National Jobs for All Network has maintained an intense interest in Social Security since its founding.… Read More The Truth About Social Security “Reform”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-social-security"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/njfac.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/njfac.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/njfac.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/njfac.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/njfac.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13379"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/njfac.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13430,"href":"https:\/\/njfac.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13379\/revisions\/13430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/njfac.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/njfac.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/njfac.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Since the \u201creform\u201d push began, Democrats have joined Republicans in raising the retirement age for receipt of Social Security benefits and increasing payroll taxes enough to generate massive surpluses in the Social Security Trust Fund. (The Trust Fund rose to a peak of $2.8 trillion in 2017.)\u00a0 In his Wall Street Journal <\/em>article (4\/2017), Reagan economic advisor and Harvard economics professor Martin Feldstein proposed that later administrations follow the example of the Reagan \u201creform\u201d: to use Social Security surpluses to “offset deficit increases” in the Federal budget. These deficits resulted from the 2017 Trump tax cuts for the rich [as did the Reagan tax cuts]. When interest on the Trust Fund was eventually tapped, its use was taken as a sign of the final Social Security \u201ccrisis\u201d and the consequent imperative to cut retirement benefits.<\/p>\n That major funding for the Democratic Party comes from the financial sector has apparently spurred the party of Franklin Roosevelt toward this perverse “reform”– including privatization. Ironically, the Monica Lewinsky scandal that paralyzed the Clinton Administration saved us from the Democratic Administration\u2019s privatization plan. Another plan to cut benefits\u2014proposed by the Obama Administration\u2014failed when intransigent Republicans refused the Democrat\u2019s proposed “grand bargain\u201d\u2014to cut Social Security and Medicare in return for tax increases and cuts in military spending.<\/a> Two Social Security advisers to Obama asked whether the Fiscal Responsibility Commission he set up \u2013which was headed by two people intent on cutting Social Security– was “a Social Security death panel.”<\/p>\n This paper describes how very special Social Security is: how current benefits differ from owning private assets, and why many current views about Social Security deficits and the need to cut benefits–are simply wrong.<\/p>\n Contrary to some assertions by members of both Parties and their advisors– Social Security<\/strong> is<\/strong> not in financial crisis; not in demographic crisis<\/strong>; and not unfair to minorities or women. Social Security is<\/strong> too important a program–for too many Americans–to be diminished by misguided proposals for \u201creform.\u201d<\/strong> Link to full report:<\/strong> Let\u2019s Not \u201cReform\u201d Social Security (Except to Raise Benefits)<\/a><\/strong>, accompanied by this Slide Deck<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by June Zaccone Source: This cartoon accompanies\u00a0the text in Save Social Security from Its ‘Saviors‘, 7\/2\/2022\u00a0by Stephanie Kelton Editors\u2019 Note: Recognizing the critical importance of employment and wages to the availability and level of retirement and disability benefits, the National Jobs for All Network has maintained an intense interest in Social Security since its founding.… Read More The Truth About Social Security “Reform”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-social-security"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/njfac.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/njfac.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/njfac.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/njfac.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/njfac.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13379"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/njfac.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13430,"href":"https:\/\/njfac.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13379\/revisions\/13430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/njfac.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/njfac.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/njfac.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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