Here in Pittsburgh a group of leftists and progresive unionists have proposed to the Central Labor Council the formation of an education group. We met today with the president of the Council with our proposal. He responded very favorably. One of the things we proposed was the development of labor "educationals," short 15-20 minute presentations/discussions on various topics of interest to workers. We suggested that we try one of these educationals out at a Central Labor Council meeting. The president agreed. The first one will probably be in August on the subject of social security, an important issue in the upcoming national elections. It looks like I will be drafted to make the presentation. Can anyone on the lists suggest a good visual way to present the issue? I would also like to have a packet of charts for the delegates to take back to their unions. Any suggestions? Also, what points do you think should absolutely be stressed? (Doug and Max on LBO, don't be shy!)
Any replies can be sent to me offlist, unless you think that others would be interested.
Thanks!!
In addition to what Max says, I believe it is important to square off with popular beliefs and misconceptions which many union members probably hold. These are nonsense, no respectable academic will touch them, but they grip the public.
One, the "unfunded liability". I don't know what you say about this. In Usenet, I use Max's sarcastic suggestion of "present value". You can quote the privatizer Martin Feldstein on this: He computes the PV of Social Security to be $7 trillion. I argue anything worth that much is worth stealing.
Two, the "worthless IOUs". Basically, on Usenet, I insist they are "assets". The comeback is "how we gonna pay them except by raising taxes or going into debt?" So be prepared for it. Note the False Dilemma argument. It is either/or, no third way.
Three, those goddamned politicians have spent the Trust Fund. People seem to think there should be a pile of money someplace. They regard SSA's lending of this money to the Government as very suspicious. There simply is no understanding of the finer art of debt management or of money markets.
Four, Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. It takes more and more workers to support the greedy geezers, until we run out of workers. Then the whole fraud fails. This one is tricky. I have tried to argue it technically, showing what a Ponzi scheme is, but this can lose your audience. I also argue that the numbers the Ponzi screamers quote show instead a pay-as-you-go system building up from infancy to maturity, rather than a geometrically progressing fraud. I'm not sure who I convince.
Five, Social Security needs to be "saved". This has been dinned into the public's mind, and I'm not sure it is wise to argue with the public. I don't have a good answer on this. On Usenet I argue that 75-year forecasts are ridiculous on their face, and that we simply don't know if there is or isn't a problem. In any case, for the last forecast, a tax increase of .945% (worker's side) will solve the forecasted deficit. This works out to about one inexpensive hamburger with a Coke, plus taxes, once a week (assuming an average wage of 30K).
I have squirreled away several web pages of the SSA debunking the common myths. IMO, the SSA was pressured into eliminating those web pages, but I snagged them, and if they will help you, let me know.
Good luck. And please keep me informed. What you come up with may help me.
-- John K. Taber