A few days ago, I commented on Josh Marshall’s theory that Bush’s social security privatization effort was motivated by a desire to keep the federal government from having to pay back all the money that it has borrowed from the social security trust fund. I criticized Marshall for offering a theory, but no supporting evidence.
Well, now Bush is flat-out lying about the solvency of social security, saying that it will be ‘insolvent’ in 40 years or so.
It’s projected that in forty years or so, Social Security will have start paying out more money than it receives in taxes, thereby drawing on the trust fund that it is currently accumulating.
If the federal government did not pay back the money that it has borrowed from the trust fund by that time, then the president’s statements would be true. Maybe he’s getting people used to the idea that social security will go bankrupt soon so that when he proposes not paying back the loans, many people won’t question it. It’s still just a theory with no concrete evidence, but I’m trying to make sense of the president’s moves.
Categories: Politics