The Republican assault on Social Security is driven by a conscious campaign of misinformation and disinformation.
Social Security is perhaps the most successful and popular program ever enacted by our federal govenrment. It has protected millions of workers and their covered family members against loss of income from the retirement, disability, or death of the wage earner.
The insurance program is funded by payroll taxes and does NOT impact the deficit. In fact, the Social Security trust fund can pay full benefits through 2037. Even with NO changes, the program can still pay about 80% of all expected benefits going forward.
But deliberate misrepresentation of Social Security is allowing calls for severe cuts in benefits and raising the retirement age to gain traction.
For example, Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama recently proposed increasing the Social Security retirement age "every several years" because "deficit reduction" is the top priority on the congressional agenda.
This fear-mongering about deficits is a favorite tool of Republicans to justify attacks on vital social programs they oppose. They exploit the perception of crisis to strip funding from education, health care, nutrition, unemployment, assistance to families in poverty -- the list is endless.
As citizens we must educate ourselves about Social Security. You can start by reading an excellent fact-based response to Sen. Shelby at http://bit.ly/i16zSP.
As Democrats, we must steadfastly oppose the efforts to shred our social fabric and safety net. Remember that Democrats handed the Bush administration a budget surplus. It was squandered by launching two wars, giving billions in tax cuts, and driving our economy to the brink of ruin. Now we must not let them dismantle Social Security!