Stand Firm On Social Security - Road to the Middle Class

IS THE NEW Democratic Congress a big deal? Is it going to change the political weather, long term? Bill Steigerwald asked Fox News reporter Major Garrett about that.

There is bad news, very bad news. Says Garrett:

Also, I think there is movement afoot to deal with Social Security -- not on the president's terms, not on post-2004 election terms of personal accounts, but entirely on Democrat terms, meaning no personal accounts or maybe something that bears some ghostly resemblance to a personal account, but higher taxes or some rejiggering of benefits along a much more traditional line of quote-unquote "fixing" Social Security.

I fail to see the point of Republicans voting for a fix (i.e. tax increase) on Social Security without a getting a very big camel's nose of personal accounts under the tent.

What's in it for Republicans, or for the nation for that matter, if we just crank up a tax increase? It just puts off the day when we really have to fix Social Security.

The fact is that the current pay-as-you-go model is unsustainable. Always was, always will be. One day we are going to have to throw it away and go to the only sustainable model, a savings model. The savings model is simple. When you have saved enough money, then you can retire. Personal accounts gets us on that road.

Of course, we will always help people to get too old to work and don't have enough saving through no fault of their own.

A tax increase, any tax increase, just gives the federal government more money to spend. That means more money to buy votes. It puts off the day when real spending cuts must start. Put another way, it puts off the day when real reform of the corrupt welfare state begins. And that just plays the Democrats' game.

And, of course, any increase in marginal tax rates--such as on the richest Americans--just slows down the economy.

Stand firm, Mr. President! Stand firm you Republican Senators! Make the Democrats pay for their Social Security fix.

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Christopher Chantrill blogs at www.roadtothemiddleclass.com. His Road to the Middle Class is forthcoming.

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