Social Security A Success? It's The Worst Deal Of Your Life

In a recent New York Times column titled "Where Government Excels," Paul Krugman tells readers that "Social Security is a shining example" of government working.

"Suddenly," he proclaims, "many Democrats have decided to break with Beltway orthodoxy, which always calls for cuts in 'entitlements.' Instead, they're proposing that Social Security benefits actually be expanded."

But if Social Security is government at its best, what a powerful indictment of all the things we know are failures, including the schools, the infrastructure, the IRS, the Department of Motor Vehicles, Amtrak and the welfare state.

Social Security, Uncle Sam's national pension program, is the worst deal that most workers will ever make. And by the way: The program is going bankrupt, as even its own actuaries admit.

The disability "insurance" program runs out of money next year, meaning this glittering example of government excellence will need a taxpayer bailout.

The finances are only a little less ugly for the retirement program. Social Security overall began running cash deficits in 2010, and the actuaries say there's only enough money to pay benefits until 2033. Then the program is technically defunct; it won't have enough money to pay promised benefits.

A new study from researchers at Harvard and Dartmouth shows that the actuaries routinely underestimate Social Security's financial problems. So the program is probably in worse shape than even Obama's accountants are letting on.

Under so-called pessimistic assumptions, the system will run out of money to pay promised benefits just 14 years from now. After that, paying all promised benefits would ultimately require more than doubling the current Social Security payroll tax rate of 12.4%, half of which is paid by the worker and half by the employer. (Self-employed individuals pay the entire tax themselves.)

A Social Security funding crisis could make the 2007-09 housing meltdown look like a picnic. We suspect Krugman knows this, but he somehow never bothered to tell Times readers.

These financially catastrophic projections also call into question the mental stability of Democrats on Capitol Hill who want to raise Social Security benefits. How? Where will the money come from?

Read the rest of the story HERE.

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