Friday, April 08, 2005

Too good to be true?

Probably.

The Republicans in the Senate are evidently thinking about backing off of the personal accounts tip for a little while in favor of fighting the solvency battle. You know what? Good for them. They're two separate issues, and they shouldn't be conflated. One has to do with a fix, one has to do with a fundamental break from the current system.

But they are going to try to keep pushing the private accounts after they're done with their fixes. Somebody pointed out, as well (I can't remember who, and I'm sorry if I'm stepping on toes here) that it's crazy to talk about the Trust Fund as IOUs out of one side of your mouth, and then talk about solvency out of the other side. The solvency debate presupposes that the Trust Fund will have to be drawn upon at some point. Hell, Reagan presupposed that the Trust Fund would have to be drawn upon at some point. It just doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense.

And, just for a laugh, in case you were ever confused about what your parents, grandparents, and Founding Father actually wanted, the nice folks over at Social Security Choice tell us:

President Bush’s vision of an ownership society is the same as that of our Founding Fathers, our grandparents and our parents.

Wow. Just make sure not to tell my dad that he's been lying to me all along about what he wants, OK?

Fargus...