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WriterofLight,
It is sort of creepy how you come and go with yout writtings! Do you have a Government job or something? And you are here to spread misinformation? Just my suspicious mind working overtime!
posted by
Glennb
on February 22, 2005 at 2:52 PM
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Alternative perspective
You may want to expand your thinking by looking at other news sources -- sources that are relatively objective and more sophisticated in their analyses. The Economist, while having a slightly conservative bias, is one such good source. Here is what they have to say about the costs involved in making the transition in the Feb. 12th-18th, 2005 issue (p. 26): "More worringly for Mr. Bush, Republicans are also nervous [about his plan for Social Security]. In some cases, the problem is simply cowardice: they are worried about the electoral consequences of dealing with Social Security. But others have more justified qualms about the federal borrowing required upfront to make up for the money diverted away from the system into private accounts -- some $750 billion over the next decade, by the White House's calculations, and rather more in the decade thereafter." And again on p. 10: "... the carve-out [that is, the amount of money diverted from Social Security to private accounts] will worsen the short-term fiscal imbalance: the up-front transition costs will add $754 billion to government borrowing over the next ten years."
Please note two things here. First of all, this is The Economist saying this -- by no stretch of the imagination is this periodical an outlet of the big bad (and largely non-existent) "liberal news media." (If you think we have a liberal news media, you need to pick up a European newspaper to find out what a liberal perspective really looks and sounds like.) Secondly, it is Republicans who are expressing this anxiety. This anxiety stems from a fiscal conservatism that you can find on both sides of the aisle. Once again, your simplistic "liberal vs. conservative," black/white mentality is keeping you -- and others of your ilk -- from thinking in nuanced, rational, evidence-based ways about the policy options available to us as we ensure the future solvency of Social Security. [I give you a similar lecture in a comment on your characterization of local Toledo politics, if you are interested. Advice: Go beyond the labels and start really thinking...]
posted by
Isaiah_in_a_Rage
on February 21, 2005 at 9:13 PM
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