Letter: Social Security program is in jeopardy

'Starving the beast” is a political strategy being happily employed by American conservatives to limit Social Security spending by cutting taxes.

They do this in order to deprive the working folks of their prepaid benefits that are now being called entitlements. This social contract has been around 83 years and all of us and our bosses have paid for this entitlement since we worked our first part-time jobs as kids.

There is only $2.7 trillion available in the securities trust and $5.1 trillion borrowed against the past trusts and is part of the national debt owed to Social Security. If this new law adds $1 trillion to this loan, the numbers will be $1.7 trillion in securities and $6.1 trillion in loans as part of the national debt.

This fiasco will reduce the money in securities to only 21.79 percent of the hard earned money we paid in that would protect our grandchildren.

This is what I mean by 'starving the beast.” They will never pay our money back, then cancel the debt. It means they will kill Social Security. Let that sink in folks.

Steven Lucas

Vinton