Let’s not forget about Social Security

Nothing we haven’t heard before but here’s Mort Kondracke with “Democrats can’t just criticize on Social Security”:

One Democrat after another adopted the line that Bush plans "deep cuts" in Social Security benefits "to pay for private accounts" and that practically every retiree will suffer losses through the combination.

But the "deep cuts" notion ignores that fact that, under current law, benefits will automatically be slashed by at least 27 percent for everyone in 2041, when the Social Security system is expected to go bankrupt. Bush's plan will slow the rate of increases in benefits for many retirees to keep the system solvent, and will allow younger workers the chance to invest part of their Social Security taxes in private markets to lessen the losses.

And House Ways and Means chair Bill Thomas claims that Bush has already won the Social Security debate by convincing Americans there’s a real problem:

Thomas' comments, coming as he begins to write legislation, reflected his frustration that individual investment accounts have dominated the debate. Bush proposes letting workers divert one-third of the payroll taxes that pay retirees' benefits into such accounts. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., the ranking Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, and other opponents argue that would put retirement savings at risk.

Without change, Social Security will begin paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes by 2017, according to the Social Security Administration. Projections show that it will deplete its reserves by the middle of the century. By 2079, it will be able to pay only 68% of promised benefits.

The problem, of course, is that too many Americans look at 2079 and say: “I’ll be dead. Gimme mine now.”