Monday, August 29, 2011

Social Security vs. Ponzi schemes in one Venn diagram - Ezra Klein - The Washington Post

Best use of a Venn diagram I've seen in a while...

Social Security vs. Ponzi schemes in one Venn diagram - Ezra Klein - The Washington Post:

I hear/read this a lot from Conservatives as well. Its a famous talking point that just won't go away. For decades now, every Social Security recipient has received every penny due them. As Klein says, its been around for more than seventy years with a rather impressive stretch of consistency.

YES, there are some adjustments that should be made to ensure its future consistency. Increase the personal contribution amount, raise the retirement age, etc. Any one of those or a combination of each would provide decades of additional security. Of the "big three" (Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid) Social Security is by far the least problematic.

So when a candidate chooses to rail against the evil that is this Country's longest entitlement program, realize it for it is. A political ploy to scare voters to vote a certain way. Its not an intellectual approach, its a visceral one.


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