report: Congress cannot simultaneously claim tax cuts for wealthy are affordable while Social Sec shortfall is dire fiscal threat #p2 #tcot

What the 2011 Trustees' Report Shows About Social Security

By Kathy Ruffing

"On May 13, the Social Security Board of Trustees issued its annual report on the program's financial status.  The trustees' report shows some mild deterioration in the program's short- and long-term outlook — a finding that was widely expected and well within the range of past revisions….

"[Of note, the] 75-year Social Security shortfall is only slightly larger than the cost, over that period, of extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for the richest 2 percent of Americans (those with incomes above $250,000 a year).  Members of Congress cannot simultaneously claim that the tax cuts for people at the top are affordable while the Social Security shortfall constitutes a dire fiscal threat.  And the shortfall is well under half the cost over 75 years of making all of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent." 

View the full report:
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3500
http://www.cbpp.org/files/5-24-11socsec.pdf 8pp.