Marilinda Garcia: Social Security an example of government that has 'gone far, far astray'
As a state Representative in 2012, Garcia was one of 124 House Republicans who voted in favor of a resolution urging Congress “to privatize all aspects of Social Security.” On the campaign trail earlier this year, she explained that she believes Social Security is an example of the government going “far, far astray” in meeting its basic responsibilities.
“We should be able to rely on a government that’s providing what should be its basic responsibilities,” she told a campaign gathering in Newport. “That’s fulfilling the rule of law, providing for basic infrastructure and keeping us safe and protecting private property rights. These are what the government should be doing and it’s gone far, far astray.”
In making a case for cuts to the program that keeps 22 million Americans out of poverty, including 68,000 Granite Staters, Garcia cited discredited urban legends. “Take Social Security,” she said. “It was first supposed to be voluntary. Well, that didn’t last long. Then it was supposed to be safe from being raided. Then it was moved to the general fund. Then it’s raided constantly.”
The disinformation Garcia repeated has been circulating in right-wing circles via email for over a decade. The myths are so pervasive, the Social Security Administration prepared fact sheets to debunk them:
Persons working in employment covered by Social Security are subject to the FICA payroll tax. Like all taxes, this has never been voluntary. From the first days of the program to the present, anyone working on a job covered by Social Security has been obligated to pay their payroll taxes.
There has never been any change in the way the Social Security program is financed or the way that Social Security payroll taxes are used by the federal government. … From its inception, the Trust Fund has always worked the same way. The Social Security Trust Fund has never been “put into the general fund of the government.”