CNN's Chernoff falsely claimed Social Security will "be out of money in 2041"

On the January 21 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, senior correspondent Allan Chernoff reported: "Voters know that Social Security is a financial time bomb that needs fixing. The latest government calculation is that the system will go bust, be out of money, in 2041." In fact, contrary to Chernoff's assertion that "government calculation[s]" show "that the system will ... be out of money" in 2041, the most recent Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Trustees Report (released on April 23, 2007) stated: "Present tax rates would be sufficient to pay 75 percent of scheduled benefits after trust fund exhaustion in 2041 and 70 percent of scheduled benefits in 2081."

Additionally, while discussing the Republican presidential candidates who proposed private accounts purportedly to address expected Social Security shortfalls, Chernoff failed to note that even the Bush administration has acknowledged that its proposal for private Social Security accounts -- on its own -- would do nothing to address Social Security solvency.

Chernoff also misleadingly contrasted Republican presidential candidates' positions on Social Security with those of the Democratic presidential candidates, saying: "Rather than permitting private accounts, Democrats are proposing more taxes." But contrary to Chernoff's suggestion, the Democratic candidates have not rejected the notion of private accounts as a supplement to -- rather than as a replacement for part of -- Social Security payments. Indeed, the leading Democratic candidates each have proposals to provide incentives for private savings:

• Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY) has proposed "a matching refundable tax credit -- dollar-for-dollar -- for the first $1,000 of savings done by every married couple making up to $60,000," as part of her American Retirement Accounts plan.

• Sen. Barack Obama (IL) has said he intends to "expand the existing Savers Credit to match 50 percent of the first $1,000 of savings for families that earn under $75,000, and he will make the tax credit refundable."

• Former Sen. John Edwards (NC) has proposed Universal Retirement Accounts, in which "[w]orker contributions will be matched up to dollar for dollar on the first $500 by a new Get Ahead tax credit."

Similar to Chernoff's claim that "[v]oters know that Social Security is a financial time bomb that needs fixing," Situation Room host Wolf Blitzer asserted, "Everyone seems to agree that the Social Security system is in deep trouble." Introducing the segment, Blitzer further stated that Chernoff "has been talking to voters out there" about the issue. However, Chernoff's report quoted only one voter -- a man indentified as dentist Todd Maggiore, who said of Social Security, "Do I believe it's going to be there for my generation? Absolutely not," and said of Bush's privatization plan, "I thought that was a great idea." According to Chernoff, Maggiore is "leaning towards [Republican presidential candidate Rudy] Giuliani."

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