Stopping the Bum's Rush (Krugman on SS Privatization)

[Demit]

Krugman keeps hammering away with the truth, God bless him. He continues to point out that this is a phony crisis--this crisis is an emperor with no clothes. Is his one MSM voice enough? Can Congressional Dems be shamed into fighting to keep Social Security?



"The people who hustled America into a tax cut to eliminate an imaginary budget surplus and a war to eliminate imaginary weapons are now trying another bum's rush. If they succeed, we will do nothing about the real fiscal threat and will instead dismantle Social Security, a program that is in much better financial shape than the rest of the federal government.

In the next few weeks, I'll explain why privatization will fatally undermine Social Security, and suggest steps to strengthen the program. I'll also talk about the much more urgent fiscal problems the administration hopes you won't notice while it scares you about Social Security.

Today let's focus on one piece of those scare tactics: the claim that Social Security faces an imminent crisis.

That claim is simply false. Yet much of the press has reported the falsehood as a fact. For example, The Washington Post recently described 2018, when benefit payments are projected to exceed payroll tax revenues, as a "day of reckoning." ..."

more at http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/04/opinion/04krugman.html?oref=login

[rodeodance]

1. "Yet much of the press has reported the falsehood as a fact."

The 'crisis" mantra is coming from so many angles that it will hard to combat!! And Bush and this cabal have made this one of their priorites!! Watch out!!!!

....privatization is a fake solution to a fake crisis....

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Even the NY Times? If so, then Krugman contradicted his employers.

That takes guts and principles.

[Strawman]

3. Excellent article

The 11 page version is even better.

http://www.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1048&context=ev

[patdem]

6. Not only is it better it is a .pdf file that can be saved and read at

leisure. Thanks. I did not click on the link on the article, but you enticed me.:hi:

[stray cat]

4. kick nt

[CountAllVotes]

5. kick

and sorry for the dupe!

:kick:

[Demeter]

7. I Think The Plot Is Foiled

Tonight's headlines about Bush's plan to cut social security by 1/3 ought to put an early end to this evil venture...

[Jim__]

8. I wish you were right ...

... but, they control the press. And they'll scare the bejezzus out of anyone who gets their info from the MSM.

[tngledwebb]

10. Correct- Krugman's on a short leash except for financial issues,

because, on occasion, MSM needs to ensure some balance of opinion when it comes to plain old greed, so savvy investors know where to put their money.
MSM only cares about the general public in so far as it affects those economic decisions.

[blondeatlast]

11. Interesting theory, and frighteningly plausible.

:scared:

[tngledwebb]

14. Read the Daily Howler.com,

for an incisive and entertaining look at how MSM has spun out Republican propaganda the last few years, with its 'liberal' columnists stepping right in line, just like the Dem pols who voted for tax cuts, Patriot Act, and war on Iraq.
(Krugman is one of the few to be trusted, for what he does get to tell us, but I bet NYT editors have kept him from speaking his mind many many times the past four years. And his female counterpart Mo Dowd is a clown.)

[Strelnikov_]

9. Part I Liked Is How The Privatizers Say Trust Fund Is Meaningless IOU's

Maybe we should start a pre-emptive class action suit. That would shine some unwanted light on their privatization arguments.

"So where's the imminent crisis? Privatizers say the trust fund doesn't count because it's invested in U.S. government bonds, which are "meaningless i.o.u.'s." Readers who want a long-form debunking of this sophistry can read my recent article in the online journal The Economists' Voice"

[blondeatlast]

12. Linkie, please? Your idea of a class-action is intriguing, too. nt

[Strelnikov_]

13. It Is In The Text Of Paul Krugmans Editorial

The minute an administration offical states the position that the trust fund may not be solvent/may not be repaid, a breach of contract suit should be filed.

[Overseas]

15. THANKS and Kick Kick. eom.