From Holden:
Your president was in New Hampshire today pimping his plan to demolish Social Security.
Here are a few lowlights.
A principle that does not apply to the budget deficit.
Before I begin on other things, I just want you to know what I think my is [sic], to confront problems, and not to pass them on.
The assault on the full faith and credit of the United States of America continues.
And by the way, there’s not a Social Security trust. In other words, people think your money goes into the trust and it’s held for your account and then you get it out. That’s not the way it works. It’s pay as you go. It goes in and it goes out. And to the extent that there’s money more than the retirees receive, like it is today, it goes to other programs. And so what you’ve got is an IOU, kind of a bank of IOUs. It’s an important concept.
Three sentences, three lies.
So money that’s going in is greater than money going out today for Social Security. But in 2018, the system goes into the red [Lie #1], and every year thereafter the situation gets worse — 2027 will cost the federal government $200 billion above and beyond payroll taxes to make the promises [Lie #2]. And in 2042 the system goes broke [Lie #3].
A rare admission.
Certainly the personal account doesn’t fix the system. There needs to be better reforms, more meaningful reforms than that.
Another lie, this one is for the widows.
For example, if a person were to die prior to 60 years old, all the money going into the account — and the kids are over a certain age — all the money in the account goes away. I’ve talked to widows who would like to see at least something left over for all the hard work their husband has done — or vice versa, if the woman is working and the husband is the beneficiary — that there’s an account to pass on.
I can’t believe he said this with Judd Gregg in the room.
By the way, on the Medicare drugs, we’re fixing it. We got a new system that we put in place to make sure that the seniors who have trouble affording prescription drugs get help through Medicare. So they don’t have to worry about that anymore.