Social Security's phony 'crisis' (Philly Daily News)

[struggle4progress]

By DAVID J. ROBERTS

PRESIDENT BUSH keeps warning us about the crisis in Social Security as he promotes his agenda for personal accounts. He talks of bankruptcy and an $11 trillion unfunded liability. But personal accounts won't likely fix the problems.

A bipartisan commission appointed by Bush to study personal accounts (rather than to study the many possible ways of saving Social Security) was unable to come up with a single plan. Instead, their 2001 report offered three ideas for personal accounts. None of them appear to make Social Security solvent and all assume that huge infusions of cash would come from somewhere.

Personal accounts with severe cuts in traditional benefits could make Social Security solvent. But Bush is not mentioning those huge benefit cuts. He is also not mentioning that personal accounts would reward the financial services industry, major Bush contributors. And they would represent a major step toward ending the social safety net, the goal of many conservatives. <snip>

http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/opinion/10607596.htm

[wildwww2]

1. What is more fitting for a phony pResident? A phony crisis of course.

Peace
Wildman
Al Gore is My President

[shraby]

2. At least this time the phony crisis is getting called

just that from all quarters.