"And where have the fiscally responsible gone?"
Do you think it's fiscally responsible to rack up trillions of dollars of debt off the books in order to fund current spending? That's exactly what has happened with "pay-as-you-go" accounting for Social Security. As long as us Baby Boomers have been working, that's what's been going on. The money we put into Social Security, money that is supposed to come back to us in retirement, is used to offset a much bigger than admitted deficit in the operation of the government.
We are racking up debt, borrowing from our own retirement money, that future generations will have to repay or default upon. Under the current system, taxes will have to rise to unprecedented levels - not just unprecedented for the rich, either, but for everyone - just to pay the meager benefits Social Security promises. This is really no different, in terms of "fiscal responsibility", from admitting to the larger real deficit and going to the capital markets to bridge the gap. At least lenders in the capital markets would be aware of the loans they are making, as opposed to being unwitting lenders as all workers are today.
The only responsible thing to do is keep that money beyond the reach of politicians - Democrat or Republican - and make them find other ways to fund their undisciplined spending habits.
Furthermore, putting it in some fake "lockbox" won't work as long as politicians hold the key. And even if we could keep it locked up where they can't spend it, but rather must invest it so it can grow to pay for our retirement, would you really want government bureaucrats (with "oversight" from Congress) managing such a large pool of investment capital? Can you say "moral hazard"?
But that's another subject. The point is Social Security, by any honest accounting, is already bankrupt and some marginal change in benefits or payroll taxes is not going to fix it. Suggesting otherwise is plainly dishonest politics. The "large-scale government borrowing" to pay for reform is not that at all. The government is simply having to borrow honestly, on the books and in the light of day instead of racking up a huge unfunded liability off the books and pretending everything's fine. |
