Fears of Social Security's collapse unfounded, experts say

Oh my, what a scary wolf!

May we please put this meme to rest?

On her blog, Cassandra Devine balks at the prospect of paying for the baby boomers' Social Security benefits.

Her "modest proposal" for sparing the younger generation that expense: Pay retirees to commit suicide.
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Play the game: The American Academy of Actuaries has created an interactive Social Security Game that lets you see the effects of your decisions to cut Social Security benefits and/or raise taxes.

"Our parents, the boomers, dodged the draft, snorted cocaine and made self-indulgence a virtue. I call them the Ungreatest Generation. Here's their chance, finally, to give something back," she writes to her fellow twentysomethings.

Unbelievable?

Yes. The long-predicted generational conflict over Social Security's solvency hasn't escalated that far. The incendiary Ms. Devine lives only in the pages of satirist Christopher Buckley's latest novel, Boomsday .

Still, Mr. Buckley's work of fiction feeds off some people's fears that the government's retirement program will soon fall apart.

...

But most experts agree that any suggestion the system will collapse and leave younger workers unprotected is as nonsensical as Mr. Buckley's bitter blogger.

"To say, as some politicians have, that Social Security is going broke is not just wrong but also counterproductive," said Thomas Saving, a Social Security trustee and director of the Private Enterprise Research Center at Texas A&M University. "It needlessly scares people."

As the oldest boomers apply for benefits over the next couple of months, a number of policy analysts are using the milestone to offer solutions and ease fears about Social Security.

Social Security is something government can "fix". A few corrections here and there and its a sound system. In fact its unbelievable how healthy it is after so many years.

So stop letting people holler WOLF! Its OK to holler DOG! That's much more like what's coming.

SPIIDERWEB™ Rulz!

Via Dallas Morning News.