[lbo-talk] Dean Baker: Depantsing the SS boogie monster yet again

B. docile_body at yahoo.com
Tue Oct 2 17:14:46 PDT 2007


I also can't stand how the (fake) "Social Security crisis" is trotted out again and again. And again.

It looks to be one of the most popular and shored-up government plans around, no? It can last 'til 2042 at current levels, w/ current funding, and then after that degrade to 75% of its strength for many more years -- and that's only if nothing between now and the 2040s is done to shore it up? Pretty impressive, actually.

Yet -- crisis awaits! It was rather pitiful that when Fred Thomspon entered the GOP compaign for Pres., his first policy issue to tackle was .... "entitlements." That old Republican chestnut. Even after the elimination of AFDC in the 90s, you can maybe still get blood from a turnip.

The mainstream media's disinformation about Soc. Security (and repeatedly using the word "crisis") I'd say might even be worse than their shameless cheerleading for Iraq War '03.

In a sense this also relates to the US's piss-poor healthcare system, as Social Security's disability insurance component (and subsequent eligibility for Medicare) is a factor in this, too.

-B.

Michael Pollak wrote:

"The perennial SS crisis is kind an amazing testament to how the big lie repetition technique can create a reality as unquestionable as a concrete wall and then it can disappear, *poof*, when people stop blowing air into it."



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