Happy 75th Birthday, Social Security

On its 75^th anniversary Social Security is once again under attack and so are its defenders.

Those who would axe benefits are spreading myths designed to make you think there's a looming crisis. Well, it's just not true.

The stark reality is that it will be several decades before
the program encounters any financial problems. The program's trust fund
will have a $4.3 trillion surplus by 2023, and can pay all its
obligations for decades to come. And strengthening Social Security is
easy-making the very rich pay their fair share by lifting the cap on
contributions by the wealthy would allow the program to pay all its
obligations indefinitely.

So on this 75th anniversary, rather than fighting these Social
Security-busters, we should celebrate what has been one of the nation's
best anti-poverty programs-a lifeline for millions of Americans-and a
reminder of what effective government can do. Indeed the Center on
Budget and Policy Priorities reports that
without Social Security benefits, over 45 percent of elderly Americans
would have incomes below the poverty line. In contrast, with Social
Security, only 9.7 percent are poor. (Still too many.)

Social Security was a centerpiece of FDR's New Deal reforms that
helped this country recover from the Great Depression. These programs
provided Americans a measure of dignity and hope and lasting security
against the vicissitudes of the market and life. FDR therefore
accomplished what the venerable New Deal historian David Kennedy says is
the challenge now facing President Obama-a rescue from the current
economic crisis which will also make us "more resilient to face those
future crises that inevitably await us."

This anniversary is also a reminder of how major social reforms in
this country have come about-in fits and starts. As former Clinton
adviser Paul Begala observed in a Washington Post  op-ed,
"No self-respecting liberal today would support Franklin Roosevelt's
original Social Security Act... If that version of Social Security were
introduced today, progressives like me would call it cramped,
parsimonious, mean-spirited and even racist. Perhaps it was all those
things. But it was also a start. And for 74 years we have built on that
start."

Indeed when Social Security was first passed it left out African
Americans and migrant workers. It was an imperfect piece of legislation
but one that progressives built on to create the program we know today-a
program like Medicare (which just marked its 45^th anniversary
last month)-that people feel an emotional connection to and will fight
to protect. A new campaign from MoveOn and Campaign for America's Future
will tap into that energy, enlisting candidates to pledge their support
to Social Security this election season-opposing any cuts in benefits,
including raising the retirement age. And these candidates would be wise
to pay attention: A just-released poll shows that 65% of voters reject
raising the retirement age to 70. And a separate AARP poll shows the
vast majority oppose cutting Social Security to reduce the deficit, and
50% of non-retired adults are willing to pay more now in payroll taxes
to ensure Social Security will be there when they retire.

Progressives can also mark this anniversary by not only rededicating
themselves to defending Social Security, but also going on the offensive
to expand and improve our social security system to provide economic
security for everyone.