The Last Word on Social Security (Maybe)

I did say that I would do some research about the Social Security issue, didn’t I? I went to the AARP website and read their take on it. I learned two things:1.)Under "privatization," system reserves would be exhausted a full 20 years sooner than if the system was left completely alone. 2.) The "transition" costs—the costs of setting up this system of private accounts—are estimated to be $2 to $3 trillion dollars. So not only would Bush’s "solution" speed Social Security toward insolvency, it will add trillions to the insane deficit that Mr. Bush doesn’t seem to feel is a problem, despite warnings from numerous economic authorities—most notably Alan Greenspan.

This is not the most extensive research I have ever done on a subject...then again, we're generally not dealing with actual facts. "Experts" are attempting to make predicitons based on numbers fifty years out that are little more than best guesses, and the outcome can be slanted in whatever direction a particular expert wishes to push public opinion.  But I think I’ll throw in my lot with the AARP. Their suggestion:

"We can strengthen Social Security by making small adjustments, just as we've done in the past. These include raising the cap on wages subject to Social Security (currently you're taxed on income up to $90,000) and investing part of the Social Security surplus in other vehicles that pay higher interest than Treasury bonds do."

Some good news has been erupting about this whole Social Security debacle. It seems that Mr. Bush is failing miserably in his attempt to trump up the "crisis" in the system, and his solution is not exactly winning hordes of converts. In fact, as the President tours the country trying to stir up fervor for his plan, it is losing ground in the polls. It seems that the more people learn about Mr. Bush’s plan the less they like it. Well, let’s be honest; they’re not actually learning about it from him. His town hall meetings, staged, as always, in front of carefully chosen crowds of Bush supporters, are more like pep rallies than informational sessions. We don’t, in fact, know what Mr. Bush’s actual plan is. We only know he’s travelling from state to state hopping up and down and trying to get his crowds whipped up into a frenzy about how broken Social Security is. To the immense credit of the American people, they are not buying it. And, as the polls show exactly how much they are not buying it, Congressional Republicans are starting to sweat.

I am of two minds about the Social Security hype. It could be that Mr. Bush is really trying to make "fixing the system" his legacy, now that he doesn’t have to worry about re-election. He might truly believe that his exalted status as "War President," with the added bonus of a Republican Congress, gives him the carte blanche to ram through any program he desires. Or, it could be that the Republican master-minds, knowing that Americans would immediately focus on any attempt to monkey with Social Security, chose this hot-button topic for the president in order to deflect attention away from the mess he has created in Iraq.  And possibly more nefarious dealings in the waning years of the Oil Baron President. Which is more likely?  Or more frightening?