An out-of-work America imperils Social Security

The coronavirus is pummeling our Social Security safety net, its demise hastened by elitist calls to keep our economy in lockdown while boosting government debt.

With tens of millions of workers on the unemployment rolls, that means tens of millions of workers aren’t paying into the system that funds retirement benefits. The government had already projected that the cash-strapped program would be insolvent by 2035, but some economists told Politico that because of the lack of worker payments, and now-jobless older workers set to file for Social Security as soon as they’re eligible, the system could run out of money by the end of this decade.

It would stand to reason that the way to head off this catastrophe would be to get people safely back to work as soon as possible, while protecting the most vulnerable.

But reason rarely gets a seat at the table of political agendas.

While it’s true the coronavirus isn’t going away any time soon, we now know the most at-risk populations, and the protocols necessary to keep ourselves and environments as virus-free as possible.

An employed population can pay the bills, put food on the table and spend money to further boost the economy. It can also fund future retirees, and cut down on the debt we leave our children to pay.

A solvent future, however, isn’t part of the progressive purview, getting Trump out of office is.

The brilliant election year move by Senators Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) and our own Ed Markey calls for a $2,000 monthly payment to almost every adult American. Under their Monthly Economic Crisis Support Act, a

married couple would get $4,000, plus $2,000 for each dependent child, up to three per household. Payments would be retroactive to March, and the windfall would last until three months after the Department of Health and Human Services declares the coronavirus emergency over.

None of that money would go toward Social Security contributions, and all of the funding for this plan is borrowed, setting the stage for a double fiscal whammy down the road.

President Trump is reportedly considering at least another stimulus package, but it would be a far cry from the Loot-the-Future Lottery proposed by Harris, Sanders and Markey.

Despite the slow reopening rollout across the country, the left maintains that we should keep our foot on the brake. Comedian Patton Oswalt blasted the hosts of Fox & Friends for promoting America’s economic reopening.

“It’s very, very frustrating when you see people’s economic and job frustration being weaponized to benefit the rich,” he said on the Daily Beast’s “The Last Laugh” podcast. Oswalt said he sympathizes with Americans who need to get back to work, but says it’s rich people who are gaining from the risks being taken by their employees.

Sympathy for struggling jobless people is nice, but it doesn’t help them get back on their feet. And we doubt anyone unemployed who has to let certain bills go unpaid is thinking, “Well, at least no one is getting rich off me.”

We’ve been here before. In 1968, the H3N2 pandemic started in China and was brought to the U.S. by troops returning from Vietnam. It was soon in all 50 states.

Woodstock was held during the height of the outbreak.

“Life continued as normal,” Jeffrey Tucker, the editorial director for the American Institute for Economic Research told the New York Post.

“That generation approached viruses with calm, rationality and intelligence,” he said.

Those were the days.