Tim Penny: Trust the Candidate that Dares to Touch Social Security

Tim Penny is a former Congressman from Minnesota and a Co-Chair of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. He recently wrote an opinion piece for The Hill, an excerpt of which is below.

The future of Social Security is very much on the ballot this year. Regardless of party, Americans deserve to know what our leaders are planning to do to avoid an unacceptable outcome. How candidates talk about this will be telling.

First and foremost, be wary of politicians who say they will not touch Social Security. If they won’t touch it, they can’t fix it.

Be skeptical too of politicians who claim they will protect your Social Security without saying how. Protecting Social Security requires some tough choices about costs and revenues. Everything has to be on the table. If candidates take benefit cuts off the table — or if they insist on taking taxes off the table, they are not leading; they are misleading you.

Protecting Social Security is a nice slogan. But it is not a solution.

Read the entire piece here.

Published works by members or staff of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget do not necessarily reflect the views of all members or staff of the Committee.