Social Security cannot afford to pay all of the benefits it has promised. Beginning in 2017, it will run cash deficits that get bigger every year.
Among the biggest opponents of personal accounts in Social Security has been the AFSCME union, which “represents” state, county, and municipal employees. Already, AFSCME has spent millions of dollars in member dues and less explicitly-sourced profits to demagogue the public about personal accounts. The job of a union is to represent its membership. What AFSCME doesn’t want anyone to know is that over one-quarter of its membership doesn’t even have a dog in the personal accounts fight: they are only covered by state and local pension plans—not Social Security. The next time AFSCME hurls an invective at personal accounts, someone should ask them when those 28% of unaffected members will be getting their dues back.
Social Security has a problem, and we need to fix it. Personal accounts are the solution.
Over One-Quarter of State and Local Government Employees
Not Covered by Social Security
Source: House Ways and Means Committee, Based on SSA Estimates