Neutering Social Security

Since 1937 conservatives have been predicting the early demise of Social Security. It galls them, apparently, that a government program should work, or that Americans should be engaged in the welfare of their neighbor, or perhaps they view grandma as a burden to society.

Whatever their reason, though, they are stubborn I'll give them that. Stubborn and cold.

In 1983 the Cato Institute developed a five-point plan to kill Social Security and it went like so:

1. Maintain constant criticism of Social Security to influence the media and to undermine public confidence in the soundness of the program;

2. Build a network of influential supporters of private accounts, including Wall Street brokers who would profit from them;

3. Divide and conquer the opposition by assuring retirees and those nearing retirement that their benefits would be fully paid;

4. Enact laws creating 401(k)s and other private accounts so people learn to accept them; and

5. Have a privatization plan waiting in the wings when a president came along who was willing to claim that Social Security's trust fund faces a shortfall.



Sound familiar?

This entertaining article talks about the legacy of conservatives with regard to "saving" Social Security:

Neutering Social Security