Spitting On FDR's Legacy

By now you probably know that there's a new ad that tries to equate FDR's courage in creating Social Security with Bush's "courage" in dismantling it.  I have to admit, these guys are good: using the symbol of that which we want to destroy to aid in its destruction is brilliant.  Along with Clear Skies, Healthy Forests, NCLB, the Hate Amendment, "liberating" Iraq, etc, BushCo (a subsidiary of RoveCo) is great at framing debate and puts Orwell to shame.

As I've said before, I don't understand the intricacies of Social Security, so perhaps people can help me out here.  First off, is it a fair interpretation of Bush's "plan" that he intends to have people take their money out of SocSec, which is invested in Treasuries, to invest their money in...Treasuries?  If so, somebody explain to me how the plan isn't insane.  If not, somebody explain to me how the plan isn't insane.

Now, if SocSec is truly in "crisis", why do we have to fundamentally change how the most successful government program in history works instead of, you know, tweaking the problems?  For example, could we not:

• Remove the cap on payroll taxes¹
• Increase the retirement age a few years
• Means test benefits

Maybe somebody really smart can explain to me why any or all of those things wouldn't be better than removing funds from the current, functioning system.  I mean, really, it sounds like BushCo and friends want to do a heart transplant when prescribing Bayer aspirin would help prevent cardiac arrest.  Whatever happened to "first, do no harm?"

File under: destroying the village in order to save it.  Cross-reference: Yes, we have no bananas.

ntodd

1 - Disclosure: this is the first year in a long time I'll not reach the cap, so I admit perhaps a bit of bias against this regressive feature of the tax.