How can MSNBC be so divorced from reality?

A few minutes ago, I happened to switch my TV to MSNBC and I found a discussion about the news that AARP was now willing to discuss modifications to Social Security. (The validity of that news is suspect, but that is not the point here.) There was a panel of three folks discussing the impact of the news which consisted of the host and two "experts". I listened long enough to hear the host announce that the problem with Social Security was clear: the USA had historically low tax rates and that was causing a shortfall in needed revenue to maintain Social Security benefits. In quick succession, both "experts" pronounced that position absolutely correct. Then the host lambasted the GOP for wanting to cut taxes even further so as to leave Social Security unfunded.

It was strange to watch these three make points about taxes and Social Security when I knew that the facts they were citing were completely wrong. I waited for one of them to realize that he had mispoken, but none of them did. It was completely surreal.

Here are the actual facts:

Under the law, Social Security taxes are the only things that fund payments to beneficiaries besides the interest earned by the Social Security trust fund on the Treasury securities in which the assets of the trust are invested. Social Security taxes are at the highest level in history. When the fool on MSNBC says taxes are at historically low levels, the exact reverse is true --they have never been higher. Further, the interest on the investments of the trust fund have all been fully funded, so there is no impact on this income as a result of high or low taxes.

Second, the only one who has been rumored to want a reduction in Social Security taxes is president Obama who supposedly want a 2% reduction in the employers' portion of the payroll tax as a stimulus for growth. Even that is only a rumor; no request for such a tax cut has come from the White House. No one else is even rumored to be seeking such a cut. So the claim of the MSNBC "experts" that tax cuts are going to sink Social Security is just a fantasy.

The sad truth is that because of demographic changes, there is not enough revenue projected in the Social Security system to fund it into the foreseeable future. People are living longer and drawing benefits for longer as a result. The average number of children per family has also declined meaning that the number of workers for each retiree has also declined over time and will continue to do so. In other words, there are less people paying in and more money per person coming out. The problem has nothing whatsoever to do with taxes.

Perhaps the thing that bothers me most about the MSNBC show is that I know that there are folks who watch it and actually believe that they are being told the truth. I do not know if those on MSNBC believe what they were saying and are just completely ill informed or if they are intentionally misleading the public. In reality, it does not matter. Hundreds of thousand of people are being given false propaganda and told it is the truth. (I almost said millions, but then I remembered that it was MSNBC.)

People appear on cable news and give their opinions; it is one of the great things about the medium. The facts, however, should be real and true. Sadly, on MSNBC that does not seems to be the case.