LETTER: Noem telling truth about Social Security

Talk about it

To the Editor:

Normally, I don’t write letters to the editor, but when I read something so obviously false, I have to jump in.

Dean Baker has a fancy-sounding title and seems to be a guy who knows his stuff, but his assertion that Congresswoman Noem was incorrect in saying that Social Security adds to the deficit is, well, incorrect. The same Social Security Trust Fund Board that Mr. Baker cites clearly explains that Social Security is running an ever-growing deficit and that the Trust Fund is being used up. Care to guess where the funds for that Trust Fund come from? The general fund.

All those funds are in T-Bills and every dollar that is taken out comes from money in the general fund, which adds to the deficit. Those two deficits are on a collision course and, according to the Annual Report, the Trust Fund will be dry in 20 years. All of that money ($1.2 trillion) will come from the general fund. That may not concern Mr. Baker, but it sure better concern the rest of us.

Kudos to Kristi Noem for daring to tell the truth.

Tags: kristi noem, social security, opinion, updates, letters, congress