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March 14, 2005

Democrats Shooting Selves in Foot

Sebastian Mallaby has a must read article on Social Security in today's Washington Post:

They are so anxious to denounce private accounts that they fail to acknowledge the most basic point: Social Security has a serious deficit. The Post reported Friday that nearly every Democratic senator refuses even to contemplate the Bush proposals. But the Democrats have no proposal of their own. They sound negative and irresponsible.

A progressive Democratic Party would introduce its own Social Security reform bill...

But progressive Democrats should also admit the truth about Republican proposals: They're a heck of a lot better than leaving Social Security's deficit to get worse...

After all, well-designed personal accounts benefit poor Americans, not the rich. The rich already own stocks, and having a new way of holding shares should logically lead them to switch other savings out of equities and into bonds, so that their overall risk profile stays constant. It is the bottom half of households that stand to gain from the opportunity (not the obligation) to own equities as part of their retirement savings. Democrats who say that any personal accounts are a first step to dismantling the system should recall their own fury at equivalent Republican claims -- that Hillarycare, for example, promised "socialized medicine."

Posted by bubba138 at March 14, 2005 09:39 AM