Chart of the Day: Social Security

Test ticker

Monika Bauerlein,
CEO

Dear Reader,

The next few months are make-or-break for Mother Jones’ fundraising, and we need more online readers to pitch in than have been of late. In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we take a level-headed look at the brutal economics of journalism, why investigative reporting like you get from us matters, and why we're optimistic we can grow our base of support in a big way—starting with hitting a huge $300,000 goal in just three weeks. Please learn more and donate if you can right now.

The next few months are make-or-break for Mother Jones’ fundraising. We need to raise $300,000 quickly, and we need more online readers to pitch in than have been. Please learn more in "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," where we go into the brutal economics of journalism, and what makes Mother Jones unique and worth supporting if you can right now.

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

According to Gallup, 60% of Americans now believe that they’ll never see a dime from Social Security. As Dean Baker points out, this is a remarkable victory for the Social Security doomsayers. They’ve spent decades claiming that Social Security will go broke, and now a large majority of Americans believe them. They don’t believe merely that benefits might be reduced — a perfectly reasonable guess — but that Social Security won’t be able to pay them a benefit at all. That’s loony tunes territory, and it’s now what most Americans believe.