Social Security | Press

Social Security sounder than you might think

04.07.2008 | Christian Science Monitor | The latest report from the trustees of the system show improvement in its finances, despite some grim coverage. The 1 in 4 American families who receive some form of Social Security benefits should be cheered by the latest annual report of the system's trustees. That report, issued March 25, shows "a really significant improvement" in the finances of the system, says Andrew Biggs, who helped draft the report while serving as deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA). That's not the way some in the press saw this report. | Read

Social Security represents the best of American ideals

04.02.2008 | Everett Herald, Wenatchee World, Tacoma News Tribune | I thought about my grandmother when the annual report of the Social Security trustees came out last week. The years of propaganda by Social Security's opponents have convinced many Americans that the system is in trouble. Most young people I talk to assume that Social Security won't be there for them. And why wouldn't they, when the press and politicians from both parties have parroted the "crisis" line for years? | More (Everett Herald) | More (Wenatchee World) | More (Tacoma News Tribune)

Don't fall for Bush's Social Security scare

03.30.2008 | Seattle Times The stock market hasn't been this nasty since the 1970s. House prices continue their dive, and consumer confidence has gone splat. The rocketing federal budget deficit will probably orbit Mars by the time the government finishes cleaning up the mess left by the housing bubble it so blithely let fester. Good job, fellas. The Bush administration doesn't have a heckuva lot of credibility left on economic matters. But some members think they have one little ideological game left to play: scare people out of their wits about Social Security. | Read

Social Security Lifts 1.3 Million Children Out of Poverty

02.26.2008 | National Academy of Social Insurance | While Social Security is best known as a retirement program, it is also irreplaceable life and disability insurance for young families, according to a new report released today by the non-partisan National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI). | Read (press release | Read (full report)

Don't "subprime" Social Security

02.17.2008 | Seattle Times, Everett Herald | During the push to privatize Social Security, the idea's foes were accused of not trusting the American people to manage their own money. The naysayers prevailed, and aren't we glad. How interesting that the buildup to the mortgage meltdown employed many of the same sales tactics as the Social Security privatization scheme. Resentment, fear, flattery and hype — plus scant details on fees and other costs — all went into the pitch. | Read (Seattle Times) | Read (Everett Herald)

An argument for Social Security

02.07.2008 | Washington Post | "The Pain Game" [Magazine, Jan. 3] mentioned that monthly Social Security disability benefits constitute the bulk of former All-Pro defensive lineman Dave Pear's income. The point deserves emphasis. His story exemplifies why Social Security is so important to working Americans, why the benefits it provides should not be cut and, indeed, why those benefits should be increased. | Read

Social Security fear mongers are at work; don't be misled

10.03.2007 | Everett Herald | Henry Paulson, along with Chicken Little, would have us believe that the sky is falling. But here are some facts about Social Security. Right now it is holding up the federal budget. Every year since 1983 Social Security has generated a surplus. Last year it generated a surplus of $185 billion. This year it is projected to generate a surplus of $186 billion. In 2016 it is projected to generate a surplus of $269 billion. | Read

Old reliable Social Security buoys struggling Americans

08.10.2005 | Tacoma News Tribune | Social Security remains the most financially robust government program we have. No other program can claim a growing stream of financing for the next 70 years. It is embattled today only because the marauders are at its gate, threatening to tear down the program. | Read

Rallying the economy for all

06.17.2005 | Puget Sound Business Journal | Social Security helps American businesses thrive. By ensuring economic security for millions of American families, Social Security provides the economic foundation for communities and the small businesses at their core. | Read

It Ain't Broke

02.02.2005 | Real Change News | First it was weapons of mass destruction. Now it's Social Security. Doesn't the president have anything better to do than create a crisis when there is none? President Bush claims Social Security is going broke. That is simply not true. | Read

Deficits not caused by entitlements

06.30.2004 | Seattle Post-Intelligencer | Social Security finances are sound and it's a valuable program we easily can afford as our population ages. Rushing to slash benefits in a program that is successfully keeping 90 percent of seniors and more than 5 million children out of poverty is unnecessary and will cause lots of harm. | Read

Social Security Is One of the Best Friends American Women Have

04.19.2004 | Seattle Post-Intelligencer | Jennifer Dunn and Dorcas Hardy got one thing right in their opinion piece on Social Security (SeattlePI.com, Opinion, April 17, 2002). The system could be improved to work even better for American women. However, the radical restructuring that Dunn and Hardy suggest would slash guaranteed benefits and cost over $1 trillion. Privatizing Social Security is precisely the wrong approach for women and all Americans. | Read

At 67, Social Security alive and well

08.20.2002 | Seattle Post-Intelligencer | Social Security turned 67 last Wednesday. Far from being ready for retirement, this vital program is working more effectively now than ever, and it will keep on working for future generations of Americans. The reports of the Social Security trustees confirm the trust fund will continue to grow for the next 15 years, then be spent down as baby boomers retire, precisely as was planned. Every realistic projection shows that in 40 years Social Security will pay higher retirement benefits to today's young workers than their grandparents are receiving now. | Read

Privatizing Social Security put on hold―for good reason

01.01.2002 | EOI | Social Security reform now appears on the back burner. The commission has reluctantly admitted that privatization requires large benefit cuts and tax increases. To make such moves politically palatable, the commission takes a one-sided and alarmist view of Social Security's current benefits and future finances, and recommends waiting a year before tackling restructuring | Read

Dismantle the Commission, Not Social Security

05.08.2001 | EOI | George W. Bush promised us a commission on Social Security, and now he’s given us one. But this is one campaign promise he should have broken. Social Security is highly successful and solidly financed. Carving Social Security into individual private accounts as Bush and his carefully screened commission want would be disastrous for working families and for our nation as a whole. | Read

Bush's Push for Tax Cut Slows Attack on Social Security

03.01.2001 | EOI | Notably absent from the 2001 annual report of the Social Security trustees is the doom-and-gloom language required to “save” Social Security. The data remains remarkably the same from this year to last. After years of hearing about the need to plug the leaks in Social Security, why are we seeing a softening of the hard line? It’s simple: to make way for Bush’s tax cuts. | Read

Lessons from the Earthquake for President Bush

03.01.2001 | EOI | George W. Bush addressed the nation and the next morning the ground shook, longer and harder than most of us living on Puget Sound had ever experienced. Now, I don’t mean to imply any kind of divine judgment. But the earthquake does remind us of certain truths that Bush tried to obscure with his rhetoric, and those truths point towards very different values than the ones Bush expressed. | Read