“Although the rest of the government is running huge deficits – and never did run much of a surplus – the Social Security system is currently taking in much more money than it spends. Thanks to those surpluses, the program is fully financed at least through 2042. The cost of securing the program’s future for many decades after that would be modest – a small fraction of the revenue that will be lost if the Bush tax cuts are made permanent.” – Paul Krugman, New York Times, today.
“When Alan Greenspan urged Congress last week to cut future benefits in Social Security and Medicare, sending elected officials to the barricades, he was if anything understating the magnitude of the problems ahead. Today’s budget deficits are measured in the hundreds of billions, but the looming shortfalls for the two retirement programs are projected to be in the tens of trillions of dollars.” – Edmund L. Andrews, New York Times today.
The Dish 