Abby Huntsman, daughter of "only-sane ex-GOP candidate" Jon Huntsman is furious. On her regular segment, Abby's Road on MSNBC's The Cycle (y' know -- just like Chelsea Clinton's regular segment, Chelsea's Morning on Fox & Friends), Ms. Huntsman reacts to the recent Pew Millennials Poll repeating one zombie lie after another about social security:
Summing Up the misstatements:
1. Social Security is unsustainable.
2. There's a crisis because of increased longevity since the program was founded.
3. The was not anticipated by the founders of social security.
3. If nothing is done the system will be "bankrupt."
4. Proposals to "do something" get no media coverage.
She also notes that 51% of Millennials believe social security won't be there for them.
The invaluable Dean Baker takes on Ms. Huntsman's commentary in his "Beat the Press" blog, in a post MSNBC Finds It's Hard to Get Good Help: Abby Huntsman on Social Security.
Dean points out that most increased life expectancy is the result of lower infant mortality, and that the increase in average life expectancy after 65 is just 6.5 years, making the imbalance between young and old much less. He then points out:
However the bigger problem with Huntsman's diatribe is that this increase in life expectancy was expected at the time the program was created. As a result, a number of increases in the tax rate were put into place in the next five decades. The initial tax rate was just 2.0 percent of wages on both the worker and the employer.
Further, average wages are expected to grow in the next 36 years, raising the contributions to payroll taxes.
Finally, the idea that dealing with supposed social security "unsustainability" is not covered by the media is laughable. Fix the Debt and its followers and affiliates have been pushing the argument for 25 years.
Doesn't Abby realize that's why 51% of her Millennial cohort believe it won't be there for them?
Well, in any case, we now know that zombie lies are not just spread on MSNBC by the Morning Joe crew, but also pop up in the afternoon, alongside truthful commentary by, e.g., Krystal Ball.