Perry is STILL right: Social Security is a loser

[Riot]

"Social Security is indeed a Ponzi scheme." - Rick Perry



http://www.politifact.com/texas/arti...-ponzi-scheme/

Memo To Rick Perry: Social Security Is Not Facing ‘Dire Financial Challenges’
By Pat Garofalo on Sep 12, 2011 at 10:50 am

2012 GOP hopeful Texas Gov. Rick Perry today penned a USA Today op-ed on Social Security, clearly trying to lay to rest some of the controversy surrounding his deriding the program as a “monstrous lie” and a “Ponzi scheme” ahead of tonight’s Republican primary debate.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/201...ire-financial/

Perry is simply incorrect to say that Social Security’s financial situation is “dire.” After all, if nothing is done to Social Security, it will still pay full benefits until the year 2037. After that, the program is projected to pay out 75 percent of benefits until 2084, which is close to full benefits once inflation is accounted for. As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has said, “Social Security has not added a single penny, not a dime, a nickel, a dollar to the budget problems we have. Never has. And for the next 30 years, it won’t do that.”

One simple step — lifting the payroll tax cap so that more wages for the wealthy are subject to the payroll tax — guarantees Social Security’s solvency for 75 years. As Mother Jones’ Kevin Drum put it, “this is really the only thing you need to know about Social Security — the program costs about 4.5% of GDP today and will eventually top out at about 6% of GDP in 2030 and beyond. You can bring that into balance forever with tiny tweaks phased in over the next two decades. Not only is it not a Ponzi scheme, it’s not even a major problem.”

Though Perry lays out literally no solutions in his op-ed, he has previously proposed an economically impossible state takeover of Social Security, that, if implemented, would simply cause the program to collapse. Read the Center for American Progress’ plan for Social Security here.