Yesterday a group of over 250 policy experts and economists sent the President an open letter urging him to protect the entitlement program. They claimed that Social Security does not contribute to the federal deficit.
The push to protect the program is just one component in a broader fight between Democrats and Republicans in Washington about how to put the nation back on a path towards fiscal sustainability.
It comes days after Congress approved an 11th hour plan to fund the government, as they narrowly averted a shutdown. But bigger legislative issues remain unresolved, including a proposal to lift the nation's$14 trillion debt ceiling.
Supporters say Social Security is an independent, self-financing program that has no authority to borrow, and therefore cannot deficit spend. But critics say the program is already adding to the shortfall because the federal government must issue new debt to pay back money it borrowed from the Social Security trust fund.
Regardless, both sides generally agree that Social Security needs to be reformed as the nation's population gets older and the number of Americans collecting benefits outpaces the amount of money flowing into the system.
