One of the favorite talking points of the more teabaggy of Republicans is the old Social Security is a "Ponzi scheme" lie. Here's Dick Armey, one of the competitors for holder of the teabagger crown, talking to Think Progress:
ARMEY: The government uses the concept of a trust fund to take your money under false pretenses. For years, I wrote about and talked about and taught about what I call ‘corrupt government practices,’ because they’re always so quick to talk about corruption. One of the corrupt government practices is stealing your money under false pretenses. I’ll give you a to wit: social security. When they had the Alan Greenspan commission, they knowingly raised payroll taxes more than what was necessary to meet the flow of output. Social Security is a pay-as-you-go Ponzi scheme. They knew very well that the extra $250 billion would be spent on their social schemes.
That leads us to one of the candidates endorsed by Armey's Freedomworks, Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson (the man who right now is ahead of Russ Feingold in the polls). Johnson, a proponent of Social Security privatization has actually started running an ad trumpeting this zombie lie.
James Roosevelt, Jr., FDR's grandson, wants Wisconsin and the nation to know that this is a lie:
"People like Ron Johnson should stop scaring senior citizens," Roosevelt said from Boston in a phone call to news reporters....
Roosevelt compared Social Security to an insurance program, like homeowners insurance, that hasn't added anything to the federal deficit and has always run a surplus.
"Social security is sound and should be treated on its own terms," he said.
Roosevelt also accused Johnson and two other Republicans, Wisconsin House Candidate Sean Duffy and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, of using the election to eliminate Social Security, privatize it and cut benefits.
"It is a choice people need to make," Roosevelt said. "Do they want to support Democrats like Senator Feingold, who are committed to Social Security, or do they want to support people who want to do away with it?"
Think Progress points out that even Marco Rubio, Sharron Angle, Joe Miller, and Pat Toomey have a hard time saying out loud that they want to privatize Social Security--even Johnson waffles. But all of them are committed to, as Roosevelt says, to scaring senior citizens at the very least. And, if they get into office, ending Social Security as we know it.