We are in trouble when our congressman don't understand basic math and compound interest. They say "there is no social security problem" and it seems they believe it, so that conclusion must be a product of lack of understanding.
Einstein talked about the most powerful thing in the world being "compound interest". Basically, $1 invested now at 10% will result in $1.10 at the end of a year and $1.21 at the end of two years. To understand further read Compound Interest - An Essential Understanding.
The CBO says all of the social security trust fund will run out by 2037 and then we'll be short 25% on benefits to be paid out at the time. After 2037, there's no more left in the trust fund, so we have to fund the difference somehow. Doesn't that make sense? (Unless we want to not pay people what they are due.)
The CBO says that we would need to set aside $6.6 trillion dollars now if we were to cover that whole liability; if we wait til 2037, we would need $15 trillion (more than our current GDP and over seven times all of our current government revenues, including social security taxes and medicare taxes!)
Read Unfunded Liabilities to learn what is meant by all of these shortfalls in social security, plus medicare. Read also what our true public debt is.
Call the politicians and ask them to be educated in this and THEN to express their conclusion, based on understanding and actual facts.
The Rational Non-Politician
See Educating The Politicians, which is what we should require of the politicians before expressing their opinions and especially before they vote!
Also, if you would pass the message on to Ed Schultz, Lawrence O'Donnell, Rachel Maddow - and I don't recall the others right now - others who have made comments about social security that show a lack of understanding.
The CBO is the Congressional Budget Office, the government organization that calculates the effects of government programs, etc.
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