Social security and the New York Times dishonest propaganda

Dick McDonald
BrookesNews.Com
Monday 18 April 2005

Personal accounts encounter a relentless daily barrage of propaganda from the New York Times. Here the Slimes puts the lie to solve the $4 trillion Social Security gap that will occur in the next 75 years by stating:

“Both sides are right about one thing: add-on accounts are a bad idea. But their objections miss the most important point. Like the Bush privatization plan, this hybrid does nothing to address the real problem: over the next 75 years, Social Security comes up short by $4 trillion.

The only way to close that gap is to raise taxes or cut benefits, or both. A fair and adequate fix would include some of each, phased in over decades. By spreading the burden widely and slowly, the cost would not be unduly heavy for anyone and could be distributed in ways that reflect various groups' fair share of Social Security's shortfall”.

Gee, the Times never discusses how private accounts solve the problem and wipe out the unfunded $11 Trillion liability so there never is a $4 Trillion “gap” to close. The only solutions the Times or any MSM type or leftist, collectivist or Democrat will consider is a government-controlled Ponzi scheme like the one in place adjusted by higher taxes or reduced benefits. Let's look how ridiculous theSlimes is.

As the opening page of our new website, thenewsocialosecurity.com graphically illustrates in 2005 dollars, a 22 year-old who only makes $15/hour for his entire life will have a nest egg of $892,473 upon retirement assuming an average 6 per cent return on his personal account.

To be absolutely ridiculously conservative let’s assume that all 62 million families in America only make a maximum of $15 per hour and to make it even completely ridiculous let’s assume women don't work at all. Then let’s compute the value of all 62 million nest eggs at retirement at 2005 dollars. Whip out your calculator and discover that amounts to a cumulative nest egg of $55 Trillion.

The $55 Trillion is ridiculously low as women will work, the average hourly wage will greatly exceed $15 per hour and there is a good chance the rate of return in coming boom years will exceed 6 per cent. The unfunded liability of $11 trillion will self-extinguish.

As I see it, America will then have the financial resources to fund the worldwide march to democracy, free trade, free markets and competition creating the lowest cost for goods and service. The taxpayer will vote himself Medicare, life insurance and long-term care coverage out of the $892,473. And maybe health insurance to boot.

Now folks you can vote for the continued travesty of the Old Social Security or opt for a switch to the New Social Security. Which will it be?

Dick McDonald can be reached at The Right Scale