Ponzi to Congress: Fix Social Security

Lost in the debate on Social Security being a “Ponzi Scheme,” aka a fund that uses current investors’ $ to pay old investors’ promised return, is reality the system is projected to be insolvent by 2035 unless The Swamp fixes the mess it created before then.

The finger pointing aside, who’s at fault is like asking “Who’s on First”. It doesn’t matter. The Fox News coverage participated in the meaningless debate in its recent story titled, “Expert turns tables on Dem critics after Musk accuses Social Security of being ‘Ponzi scheme.” Will someone in the White House or Congress (other than Ponzi) just give us a solution most can live with & retire by?

BTW, what ARE the possible solutions? Cull out the obvious pockets of fraud & waste in Social Security’s administration? Fine. But, that audit couldn’t extend the life of the fund by more than 1, 2 or 3 years. Privatize the public fund as Musk once suggested? Yet, might we recall Social Security was started precisely because, left to their own devices &/or given the rigors of daily life, many if not most folks were unable to provide themselves with the public “safety net”? Again push back the retirement age at which benefits begin? But, wouldn’t that break the promise that supposedly fixed the insolvency dilemma the last time? Might not seniors rightly ask, “Why not have benefits start in the grave? How about yet another tax increase on current wage earners? Might not that work given the birth rate keeps declining so there will likely be fewer retirees down the road? Then again, won’t there be fewer wage earners to pay benefits to the future seniors? All that’s certain politically in this unfolding drama is the importance of “Promises Made, Promises Kept.” FDR’s Social Security Act of 1935 created what was supposed to be a guaranteed minimalist safety net for retirees & other vulnerable Americans. Wanna bet Ponzi would have said, “The least POTUS & Congress can do is fix this problem once & for all”?

Davd Soul