Social Security Talking Points #1

• The neoconservative movement has been fighting for social security privatization for a very long time. President Bush himself was quoted way back in 1978 stating that the social security fund would go bankrupt by 1988 if it was not privatized. Bush has been working hard since 1999 to promote the privatization effort.
• Bush's privatized plan will require borrowing $4.75 trillion over the next twenty years. This money represents more than half the accumulated fiscal debt of the United States. If this money was instead applied directly to the social security fund, the entire "so-called crisis" would be solved.
• Michael Kinsley, editor of the LA Times Editorial Page has written a proof of why Social Security privatized Won't Work.
• Social Security is not a crisis - it is a problem that will emerge if adjustments are not made by 2042. There are many more serious issues we are going to face before we ever meet this so-called crisis - say Health Care, the impending Energy Crisis, Global Warming
• Kinsley on privatization: You're in the desert, and you're desperate for water. George Bush says "How would you like lemonaid...It's really better than water". "Sure, I'll take lemonade", you say. And then he hands you the powder, and says "Just add water and stir".
• For a great conversation on Privatization, check out Monday's edition of the Al Franken Show, with guest Michael Kinsley. Kinsley is on for about 20 minutes starting at the ten minute mark
• Franken's take on the issue: If the Social Security fund is left alone, it will begin using more money than it is taking in the year 2018. And, what year would that be under the Bush Privatization Plan: "As soon as the plan starts"
  
• For a lighter look at the subject, take a look at this chart, provided by 2 Political Junkies: