Congress Can Finally Reform Social Security. In Fact, There’s No Choice.

Every time Republicans talk about addressing the impending disaster of Social Security, as its reserves dry up, Democrats characterize their attempts to protect and preserve Social Security as attempts to cut benefits. If they took the same tack in a medical situation, they might say your oncologist is recommending cutting you open and removing part of your body (namely, a cancerous tumor).

Back in 2005, when President George W. Bush broached the subject of Social Security reform, congressional Democrats, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), rallied against any notion of sustainable reform at a statue of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Washington, D.C. “Democrats are unified, Democrats are ready for this fight,” Leader Pelosi declared at the time.

When Congress passed the Social Security Act, a major part of FDR’s so-called “New Deal,” an actuary from Travelers Insurance Company, W.R. Williamson, warned the House Ways and Means Committee that it was passing on a heavy burden to future generations.

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