We live in a media era in which, more often than not, stories about America’s federal retirement programs do little more than parrot quotes offered up by Washington’s billion dollar anti-Social Security lobby.  For decades we’ve been told Social Security and Medicare are to blame for federal debt and deficits and the only way to be fiscally responsible is to slash benefits for America’s seniors.  Of course, the truth has proven to be just the opposite.

The budget deficit for 2015 is expected to drop to roughly $425 billion, according to a report released Friday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO).That’s down from the $486 billion the CBO projected in March. If it drops to $425 billion by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, it would be a seven-year low for the government’s annual budget shortfalls…MSNBC

Social Security and Medicare NOT the cause of our deficits and cutting already modest benefits would have devastating consequences for millions of American families and our economy overall. That’s why this weekend’s New York Times editorial on the 2016 Presidential campaign and Social Security marks an important shift in perspective.

This election season offers an opportunity to reframe the debate over Social Security. It is necessary, of course, to ensure the program’s long-term health beyond 2034, when the system is projected to come up short. But this can’t be done by broadly cutting benefits. In fact, there’s mounting evidence that Social Security, which has become ever more important in retirement, needs to be expanded.

Is it possible that the national media is finally coming around to the fiscal reality that the American people, no matter their political party, have long known to be true?

The latest survey by the National Academy of Social Insurance shows large majorities of Americans, both Republicans and Democrats, agree on ways to strengthen Social Security, without cutting benefits. Of those polled, 74 percent of Republicans and 88 percent of Democrats agree that “it is critical to preserve Social Security even if it means increasing Social Security taxes paid by working Americans.”  Simply put, the American people are willing to pay more for Social Security.  They understand the growing impact these benefits have on individual lives and on our larger economy.

2016 marks the National Committee’s third year of our “Boost Social Security” campaign.  We’ll continue to spread the word, reframe the debate and keep the pressure on Presidential candidates to stop taking their lead from the billion dollar anti-Social Security lobby and instead listen to what the American people support for the future of Social Security.