"Deficits, Deceit, and the Body Politic" was originally published in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Here is an excerpt:

Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are the foundations for the well-being of scores of millions of middle- and low-income Americans. Without Social Security, 14 million more low-income Americans would be living in poverty. Because of Medicare, 33 million older people live longer, have access to quality care and are not driven into poverty by rapidly rising health care costs. Medicaid is a health care boon to Americans not yet eligible for Medicare, which covers some 60 million Americans.

Because of historical and lingering discrimination, racial minorities in particular need these programs. Overall, they have less income and fewer assets than whites, so a higher percentage of their retirement income comes from Social Security benefits. Also, because they more often have physically demanding jobs, they rely more on Social Security disability and require more health care after retirement. If there were no such support, the proportion of impoverished, elderly African Americans would rise to 62 percent from 24 percent, and for Hispanics, 61 percent from 19 percent.

Read the rest on Philly.com.