Making a good case for Social Security CHG(the latest GOP LIES on Soc Sec)

[papau]

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/10726674.htm?1c
Tue, Jan. 25, 2005

Making a good case for Social Security

Stephen Moore (president of the Free Enterprise Fund)

Alas, the debate on Social Security reform is not going well for George W. Bush. Recent news stories say some Republicans are having second thoughts about the political wisdom of tackling the issue. Some Republican analysts are now pronouncing Social Security reform as a political guillotine for the GOP, much as Hillary Clinton health care politically decapitated Democratic House and Senate members in the mid-1990s.

But that analysis is wrong. Social Security reform can be an enormous vote-getter for Republicans and Democrats alike if they will unite behind a marketable plan, such as the one proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) and Sen. John Sununu (R., N.H.) with no benefit cuts and no tax hikes.

Reformers have to make the case to workers in terms of their financial benefits from private accounts. The Ryan-Sununu bill will give workers higher monthly benefits of 30 to 40 percent over their retirement years.

A LIE - BUT THEN THIS IS A GOP OP-ED THAT IGNORES TAXES TO PAY FOR THE INTEREST ON THE 2 TRILLION FIRST 10 YEARS, $15 TRILLION OVER 40 YEARS, BORROWING THAT THE BUSH PLAN NEEDS<snip>

Bush also wants to put the Social Security system on a sounder financial footing by erasing at least a portion of the long-term unfunded liability of the system. Today, those liabilities - the promises to pay benefits above and beyond the payroll tax collections - exceed $10 trillion. Medicare's unfunded liability is even more daunting.

AGAIN A LIE -$3.7 TRILLION UNDER THE CONSERVATIVE BUSH ASSUMPTIONS -NOT $10T - THE $10T COMING FROM IGNORING THE TRUST FUND SURPLUS THAT HAS AND WILL CONTINUE TO BUILD UP THROUGH 2018.<snip>

1. Stress that Social Security reform saves - not costs - money. The creation of private investment accounts is said to cost $2 trillion, but it saves $10 trillion in later years. Since young workers eventually will receive their benefits from their private accounts, government will no longer bear the obligation to pay those benefits. Wouldn't most Americans invest $2 now to get $10 back in 20 years? SIGH.... A LIE

2. Stress that the Social Security crisis is far from imaginary. Ever since Paul Krugman of the New York Times wrote that Social Security isn't broken, this has become the rallying cry of the left. Opponents of reform have seemingly all drunk this spiked Kool-Aid. But many analysts find just the opposite. The system will crater when the baby boomers retire fully. Even the Social Security Administration's own actuaries see doom and gloom if reform steps aren't taken now. A LIE - AFTER 2030 THE FINANCES ARE RATHER UNCHANGED YEAR TO YEAR.

3. Expose opponents for wanting to raise taxes. If benefits are not cut, and private accounts not created, the only option is to raise taxes on workers to cover gigantic funding shortfalls. The option of doing nothing now, really means raising taxes a lot, later. AGAIN A LIE - MOST LIKELY NOTHING NEED BE DONE - AND I LIKE A WAGE BASE INCREASE SO AS TO CUT THE PAYROLL TAX RATE>

4. Stop talking about benefit cuts in the future. Trimming Social Security benefits in the future risks an enormous political backlash against the reformers in both parties. The truth is that personal accounts for Social Security will allow Americans to have higher, not lower retirement benefits. Cutting social security benefits to get private accounts is like "paying for tax cuts" with other tax hikes. AGAIN A LIE BASED ON EVERYONE GETTING LUCKY AND NETTING 9% PER YEAR FOR NEXT 40 YEARS ON THOSE INDEX FUNDS WE GET FOR OUR $1000 DEPOSIT PER YEAR.

5. Make the accounts big and meaningful. Big accounts, like the 6 percent accounts under Ryan-Sununu will accumulate large amounts of dollars quickly. These large accounts thus help lower the long-term funding problem because workers will no longer need to draw on promised benefits. BIG ACCOUNTS KILL SOC SEC FASTER - AND IF $15 TRILLION IS NOT A CAPITAL MARKET BORROWING PROBLEM, WHY SHOULD $60 TRILLION BE A PROBLEM - I LIKE THIS GUYS LOGIC

6. Stress private ownership and control. The issue of Social Security is not so much about financial viability as it is about who should control the money? The worker or the government. Private accounts empower workers with control of their own money. That is a powerful free-market concept. AN ESTATE FOR THE KIDS THAT YOU CONTROL CAN EASILY BE ADDED VIA ADDING CHEAP TERM LIFE INSURANCE - NO NEED TO DESTROY SOC SEC.

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