So Called Security

Struggling to find something the electorate will find favor with them on, Dummycrat politicians are trying to scare seniors with Social Security privatization.

President Obama and Harry Reid have been leading the way and lately Rozanne, err Taxanne Conlin has received some press about it.

Seeing no hope for the future of her campaign, and the scientific community is united in that fact, Conlin held a press conference to attack Senator Grassley -- “I am fundamentally opposed to Chuck Grassley’s extreme plan to privatize Social Security and throw that safety net … into the reckless hands of the Wall Street bankers.”

John Stossel helped make a molehill out of that urban myth --

...retirees and near-retirees wouldn't have been affected by the 2008 stock-market decline. Only younger workers would have diverted some of their money from government to capital markets. They would have had time to recover (unless government continued to screw up and cripple the private sector).

"A typical retiree in 2008 would be entitled to a traditional Social Security benefit of around $15,700 per year. For workers who chose personal accounts, this traditional benefit would be reduced by around $7,800. However, the worker's personal account balance of $161,500 would pay an annual annuity benefit of around $10,100. This $2,300 net benefit increase would raise total Social Security benefits by around 15 percent."

"While today's retiree would have faced the subprime crisis and the tech bubble earlier in the decade, he also would have benefited from the bull markets of the 1980s and 1990s. The average return on his account -- 4.9 percent above inflation -- would more than compensate for a reduced traditional benefit."

Stossel notes -- Social Security is popular but unsustainable. Its commitments over the next 75 years exceed its expected revenue by $5.3 trillion. Politicians know this, but pander anyway.

Add Panderanne to her list of names, because Conlin's solution is to do nothing -- “We need not panic. This program can continue to pay full benefits until 2037 without any changes at all.”

She also won’t cut Social Security benefits, raise the retirement age above 67...

Back to Stossel -- Privatization is better. Everything that works well -- everything that brings innovation and prosperity -- comes from the private sector.

There's no ideal fix. But our best hope is separation of economy and government.