Hillary Clinton promised today that if elected President, she would save social security.

Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton promised retirees that if elected president she will not cut Social Security benefits, raise the retirement age or privatize the taxpayer-funded system.

The New York senator told the AARP’s legislative conference that she would bring a “renewed national commitment to Social Security” to the White House.

“This is the most successful domestic program in the history of the United States,” Clinton said to applause from seniors gathered in Washington to push their policy agenda. “When I’m president, privatization is off the table because it’s not the answer to anything.”

I find it mildly amusing that Clinton calls social security “the most successful domestic program in the history of the United States” even though every notable economist says the system is broken. Here is Hillary Clinton’s idea of a successful domestic program:

Social Security’s net cash shortfall over the next 75 years totals $25.33 trillion in 2003 dollars, a $1.46 trillion increase from the 2002 report. That figure assumes today’s surpluses are saved; if surpluses are not saved, then from 2018 through 2077 Social Security faces gross cash deficits of $26.40 trillion (in $2003), an increase of $1.37 trillion from the 2002 report.

So how does Clinton anticipate making up this shortfall? Obviously she does not want to inform the American public what she will do, she would rather pander to the people by saying what she won’t do. But let’s face facts America, the system is broken and in need of a major overhaul.

If Clinton were to not lower benefits nor raise the retirement age, the money to make up for the shortfall would need to come from somewhere. I’ll give you three guesses where this money will come from, and the first two don’t count. Much like the universal health care Clinton would like to institute, the increased revenue necessary will not come from cutting spending elsewhere, it will come from increased taxes.

She will announce she intends to raise taxes on the top 5% of income earners and show you a pretty graph that will illustrate how much money that new tax will generate in revenue. About 2 years later when the revenue generated falls far short of expectations, taxes will go up for everyone, but that will be ok, because it is for the common good.

“Many of you are well off enough that [President Bush’s] tax cuts may have helped you. We’re saying that for America to get back on track, we’re probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We’re going to have to take things away from you. We’re going to have to have to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.” -Hillary Clinton, San Francisco 6/28/2004

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Election 2008, Taxes