StickWithANose

Here’s one to file away for the next time you encounter a talk radio listener making noise about federal deficits and “entitlement” cuts: Angry Bear

[L]et us suppose that Krasting were right (he is not) and that we have depleted the [Social Security] Trust Fund. Would this be a catastrophe? Would Social Security be “broke.” Would we see a crippling burden on the young?No. Social Security would return to pay as you go… as it was always intended to be.

It would continue to pay benefits out of current payroll taxes.Because of the size of the baby boom, the missing Trust Fund income would have to be replaced by a small tax raise. That raise would be on the order of one percent of payroll for each the employee and the employer, probably phased in over ten years. This was going to happen anyway… starting in about 2026…because the next generation is going to be living longer than the last. All an immediate collapse of the trust fund (not going to happen unless Congress steals it) would do would be to advance the date of the first one tenth of one percent tax increase.

Krasting does not understand what he is talking about, but he is getting encouragement from people who do. They know he is wrong, but they are happy to let him do the “sky is falling” screaming for them. It accomplishes their purposes, which is to panic the people into letting them cripple Social Security.