Too Much Social, Not Enough Security

Yggy discovers the reason why our Washington Centrist betters have no problem cutting Social Security...it's not like they'll be missing the cuts.

Even though Social Security is only a very mildly redistributive program, inequality of wealth is such that it’s a vital element of the bottom 60 percent’s living standards but kind of small beer to the top twenty percent. But I would say the other thing here on the Medicare / Social Security contrast is that Medicare isn’t just a subsidy program for old people. It’s also a subsidy program for doctors, nurses, hospital administrators, pharmaceutical executives, etc. Those people have lobbyists, many of their professions are well-respected, and many members of the political/media elite have siblings, cousins, college buddies, and even spouses who work in those fields.

True. But notice what else that low income American seniors depend on: cash assistance programs like SNAP, too. And top earning Americans depend less on pension programs than second quintile Americans.

And what's under attack by these conservative betters of ours? Cash assistance, Social Security, and pensions for government workers, very little of which the top quintile will miss. They have significant earnings and other assets like stocks and bonds...exactly what we're told we have to lower the taxation burden on, and that it's fine that we do this because we can "afford it".

Funny how that works.