Robert Reich on his Substack has an excellent, brief piece on Social Security, which as usual is again under assault by Republicans, who are arguing that to make the program solvent, benefits must be cut and the age of eligibility raised. The argument is based on, among other things, the idea that the fund’s shortfall is due to baby boomers reaching retirement age and life expectancy increasing. Sounds right at a glance, but Reich, who used to be a Social Security trustee, debunks the myth.

Reich points out that the Greenspan Commission, whose work led to significant reforms in the 1980s, factored into their projections the baby boom bump, and he also notes that increasing life expectancy is not as widespread as many people think and definitely skews toward higher socioeconomic standing.

So what’s the real cause of the Social Security shortfall? What did Greenspan’s commission fail to predict? Widening inequality.

The Social Security payroll tax is capped at earning of $184,500. That figure is tagged to a target set by the Greenspan Commission: 90% of total income. But, due to rising inequality, the cap is now at only 83% of total income.

It went from 90 percent to 83 percent because a steadily larger portion of the nation’s total income has gone to the top. In 1983, the richest 1 percent of Americans got 11.6 percent of total income. Today, the top 1 percent takes in more than 20 percent.

There are several proposals with how to deal with this situation, which Reich discusses. It’s well worth a read.

And don’t buy the Right’s continuous efforts to redirect attention away from the effect that the oligarchs are having on us all.